i>. '  .*;■■■ 


i*: 


yT       .) 


■r 


WORLD  TO  COME 


OR, 


DISCOURSES 

ON  THE 

JOYS  OR  SORROWS 

OF 

DEPARTED  SOULS  AT  DEATH, 

AND  THE 

GLORY  OR  TERROR  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

TO  WHICH   IS  PRETIXED, 

AN  ESSAY  TOWARD  THE  PROOF 

OF  A  ♦ 

SEPARATE  STATE  OF  SOULS  AFTER  DEATH. 

WHEREIN, 

After  some  representations  of  the  happiness  of  Heaven,  and  a  preparation  for  il,  there  fol 
lows  a  rational  and  Scriptural  account  of  the  punishments  in  Hell,  and  a  proof  of  ihcii" 
eternal  duration.    With  a  plain  Answer  to  all  the  most  plausible  Objections 


JB  Y  ISJJC  WATTS,  D.  D. 


VOL.  L 

MILL-HILL,  J\'EAR  TRE.VTOX 
PUBLISHED  BY  DANIEL  FENTON. 

JOSEPH  RAKESTRAW,    ruiNTLR, 
1811. 


THE  PREFACE. 


AMONG  all  the  solemn  and  important  things 
which  relate  to  religion,  there  is  nothing  that  strikes 
the  soul  of  man  with  so  much  awe  and  solemnity,  as 
the  scenes  of  death,  and  the  dreadful  or  delightful 
consequents  which  attend  it.  Who  can  think  of  en- 
tering into  that  unknown  region  where  spirits  dwell, 
without  the  strongest  impressions  upon  the  mind 
arising  from  so  strange  a  manner  of  existence  ?  Who 
can  take  a  survey  of  the  resurrection  of  the  millions 
of  the  dead,  and  of  the  tribunal  of  Christ,  whence 
men  and  angels  must  receive  their  doom,  without  the 
most  painful  solicitude,  *  What  will  my  sentence  be  ?' 
Who  can  meditate  on  the  intense  and  unmingled 
pleasure  or  pain  in  the  world  to  come,  without  the 
most  pathetic  emotions  of  soul,  since  each  of  us  must 
be  determined  to  one  of  these  states,  and  they  are 
both  of  everlasting  duration  > 

These  are  the  things  that  touch  the  springs  of  every 
passion  in  the  most  sensible  manner,  and  raise  our 
hopes  and  our  fears  to  their  supreme  exercise.  These 
are  the  subjects  with  which  our  blessed  Saviour  and 
his  Apostles  frequently  entertained  their  hearers,  iu 
order  to  persuade  them  to  hearken,  and  attend  to  the 
divine  lessons  which  they  published  amongst  them. 


IV  THE  PREFACE. 

These  were  some  of  the  sharpest  weapons  of  then 
holy  warfare,  which  entered  into  the  inmost  vitals  of 
mankind,  and  pierced  their  consciences  with  the  high- 
est solicitude.  These  have  been  the  happy  means 
to  awaken  thousands  of  sinners  to  flee  from  the  wrath 
to  come,  and  to  allure  and  hasten  them  to  enter  into 
that  glorious  refuge  that  is  set  before  them  in  the 
gospel. 

It  is  for  the  same  reason  that  I  have  selected  a  few 
discourses  on  these  arguments  out  of  my  public  mi- 
nistry, to  set  them  before  the  eyes  of  the  world  in  a 
more  public  manner,  that  if  possible,  some  thought- 
less creatures  might  be  rouzed  out  of  their  sinful 
slumbers,  and  might  awake  into  a  spiritual  andetet. 
nal  life,  through  the  concurring  influences  of  the 
blessed  Spirit. 

I  am  not  willing  to  disappoint  my  readers,  and 
therefore  I  would  let  them  know  before-hand,  that 
they  will  Rnd  very  little  in  this  book  to  gratify  their 
cariosity  about  the  many  questions  relating  to  the 
invisible  world,,  and  the  things  which  God  has  not 
plainly  revealed  :  Something  of  this  kind,  perhaps, 
may  be  found  in  two  discourses  di  death  and heaijcn^ 
which  I  published  long  ago  :  But  in  the  present  dis- 
couises  I  have  very  much  neglected  such  curious 
enquiries.  Nor  will  the  ear  that  has  an  itch  for  con- 
troversy be  much  entertained  here,  for  I  have  avoid- 
ed matters  of  doubtful  debate.  Nor  need  the  most 
zealous  man  of  orthodoxy,  fear  to  be  led  astray  into 
new  and  dangerous  sentiments,  if  he  will  but  take 


THE  PREFACE.  V 

the  plainest  and  most  evident  dictates  of  Scripture* 
for  his  direction  into  all  truth. 

My  only  design  has  been  to  set  the  great  and  most 
momentous  things  of  a  future  world  in  the  most  con- 
vincing  and  affecting  light,  and  to  enforce  them  upon 
the  conscience  with  all  the  fervour  that  such  subjects 
demand  and  require.  And  may  our  blessed  Re- 
deemer, who  reigns  Lord  of  the  invisible  world,  pro- 
nounce these  words  with  a  divine  power  to  the  heart 
of  every  man,  who  shall  either  read  or  hear  them. 

The  treatise  which  is  set  as  an  introduction  to  this 
book,  was  printed  many  years  ago  without  the  au- 
thor's name,  and  there,  in  a  short  preface,  represent- 
ed to  the  reader  these  few  reasons  of  its  writing  and 
publication,  viz. 

The  principles  of  atheism  and  infidelity  have  pre- 
vailed so  far  upon  our  age,  as  to  break  in  upon  the 
sacred  fences  of  virtue  and  piety,  and  to  destroy  the 
noblest  and  most  effectual  springs  of  true  and  vital 
religion;  I  mean  those  which  are  contained  in  the 
blessed  gospel.  The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body,  and  the  consequent  states  of  heanen  and 
hell^  is  a  guard  and  motive  of  divine  force  ;  but  it  is 
renounced  by  the  enemies  of  our  holy  Christianity  : 
And  should  we  give  up  the  recompences  of  separate 
soulsy  while  the  deist  denies  the  resurrection  of  the 
body,  I  fear  between  both  we  should  sadly  enfeeble 
and  expose  the  cause  of  virtue,  and  leave  it  too  naked 
and  defenceless.  The  Christian  would  have  but  one 
persuasive  of  this  kind  remaining,  and  the  deist 
would  have  none  at  all. 


VI  THL  PR  EI' ACE. 

It  is  necessary  therefore  to  be  upon  our  guard,  and 
to  establish  every  motive  that  we  can  derive  either 
from  reason  or  Scripture,  to  secure  religion  in  the 
world.  The  doctrine  of  the  state  of  separate  spirits, 
and  the  commencement  of  rewards  and  punishments, 
immediately  ufter  death,  is  one  of  those  sacred  fences 
of  virtue  which  we  borrow  from  Scripture,  and  it  is 
highly  favoured  by  reason,  and  therefore  it  may  not 
be  unseasonable  to  publish  such  arguments  as  may 
tend  to  the  support  of  it. 

In  this  second  edition  of  this  small  treatise,  I  have 
added  several  paragraphs  and  pages  to  defend  the 
same  doctrine,  and  the  last  section  contains  an  an- 
swer to  various  new  objections  which  I  had  not  met 
with,  when  I  first  began  to  write  on  this  subject.  I 
hope  it  is  set  upon  such  a  firm  foundation  of  many 
Scriptures,  as  cannot  possibly  be  overturned,  nor  do 
I  think  it  a  very  easy  matter  any  way  to  evade  the 
force  of  them.  May  the  grace  of  God  lead  us  on 
further  into  every  truth  that  tends  to  maintain  and 
propagate  faith  and  holiness. 

In  the  first  of  these  discourses,  I  have  endeavour- 
ed to  prove,  that  *  at  the  departure  of  the  soul  from 
the  body  by  death,  the  rewards  or  pMiiishments,'  i.  e. 
the  joys  or  sorrows  '  of  the  other  woi^ld,  are  appoint- 
ed to  commence  :'  And  I  hope  I  have  given,  from 
the  evidence  of  Scripture,  such  arguments  to  support 
this  doctrine,  as  that  the  faith  of  Christians  may  not 
be  staggered  and  confounded  by  different  opinions, 
or  made  to  wait  fur  these  events,  through  all  the  ma-. 


THE  PKEFACE.  vi'l 

n}'  years  that  may  arise  between  death  and  the  resur- 
rection. 

I  know  nothing  besides  this,  that  is  made  a  matter 
of  controversy  ;  and  I  hope  that  the  whole  of  these 
sermons,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  will  be  made  hap- 
pily useful  to  Christians,  to  awaken  and  warn  them 
against  the  danger  of  being  seized  by  death  in  a  state 
unprepared  for  the  presence  of  God,  and  the  happi- 
ness of  heaven,  and  to  raise  the  comforts  and  joys  of 
many  pious  souls  in  the  lively  expectation  of  future 
blessedness. 

The  last  discourses  of  this  book,  especially  the 
*  eternity  of  the  punishments  of  hell,'  have  been  in 
latter  and  former  years  made  a  matter  of  dispute ; 
and  were  I  to  pursue  my  enquiries  into  this  doctrine, 
only  by  the  aids  of  the  light  of  nature  and  reason,  I 
fear  my  natural  tenderness  might  warp  me  aside 
from  the  rules  and  the  demands  of  strict  justice,  and 
the  wise  and  holy  government  of  the  great  God. 

But  as  I  confine  myself  almost  entirely  to  the  reve- 
lation of  Scripture  in  all  my  searches  into  the  things 
of  revealed  religion  and  Christianity,  I  am  constrain- 
ed to  forget  or  to  lay  aside  that  softness  and  tender- 
ness of  animal  nature  which  might  lead  me  astray, 
and- to  follow  the  unerring  dictates  of  th,e  word  of 
God. 

The  Scripture  frequently,  and  in  the  plainest  and 
strongest  manner,  asserts  the  everlasting  punishment 
of  sinners  in  hell ;  and  that  by  all  the  methods  of  ex- 
pression which  are  used  in  Scripture  to  signify  an 
everlasting  continuance. 


Vlli  THE  PKEIACi;. 

God's  utter  hatred  and  aversion  to  sin,  in  this  per- 
petual punishment  of  it,  are  manifested  many  ways; 
(1.)  By  the  just  and  severe  threatenings  of  the  wise 
and  righteous  Governor  of  the  world,  which  are  scat- 
tered up  and  down  in  his  word.     (2.)  By  the  vera- 
city of  God  in  his  intimations  or  narratiies  of  past 
events,  as  Jude  v.  7.  "  Sodom  and  Gomorrha  suffer- 
ing the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire."     (3.)  By  his  ex- 
yircss  predictions,  Matth.  xxv.  46.  **  These  shall  go 
away  into  everlasting  punishment."     2  Thess.  i.  9. 
*' Who  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruc- 
tion ;"  and  I  might  add,    (4.)   by   the  ijeracity  and 
truth  of  all  his  holy  Prophets  and  Apostles,  and  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ  at  the  head  of  them,  whom  he  has 
sent  to  acquaint  mankind  with  the  rules  of  their  duty, 
and  the  certain  judgment  of  God  in  a  holy  correspon- 
dence therewith,  and  that  in  such  words  as  seem  to 
admit  of  no  way  of  escape,  or  of  hope  for  the  con- 
demned criminals. 

I  must  confess  here,  if  it  were  possible  for  the 
great  and  blessed  God  any  other  way  to  vindicate  his 
own  eternal  and  unchangeable  hatred  of  sin,  the  in- 
flexible justice  of  his  government,  the  wisdom  of  his 
severe  threatenings,  and  the  veracity  of  his  predic- 
tions, if  it  were  also  possible  for  him,  without  this 
terrible  execution,  to  vindicate  the  veracity,  sincerity, 
and  wisdom  of  the  Prophets  and  Apostles,  and  Jesus 
Christ  his  Son,  the  greatest  and  chiefest  of  his  divine 
messengers;  and  then,  if  the  blessed  God  should  at 
any  time,  in  a  consistence  with  his  glorious  and  in- 
comprehensible  perfections,   release  those  wretched 


THE  PREFACE,  iX 

creatures  from  their  acute  pains  and  long  imprison- 
ment in  hell,  either  with  a  design  of  the  utter  de- 
struction of  their  beings  by  annihilation,  or  to  put 
them  into  some  unknown  world,  upon  a  new  foot  of 
trial,  I  think  I  ought  cheerfully  and  joyfully  to  accept 
this  appointment  of  God,  for  the  good  of  millions  of 
my  fellow- creatures,  and  add  my  joys  and  praises  to 
all  the  songs  and  triumphs  of  the  heavenly  world  in 
the  day  of  such  a  divine  and  glorious  release  of  these 
prisoners. 

But  I  feel  myself  under  a  necessity  of  confessing, 
that  I  am  utterly  unable  to  solve  these  difficulties  ac- 
cording to  the  discoveries  of  the  New  Testament, 
which  must  be  my  constant  rule  of  faith,  and 
hope,  and  expectation,  with  regard  to  myself  and 
others.  I  have  read  the  strongest  and  best  writers 
on  the  other  side,  yet  after  all  my  studies  I  have  not 
been  able  to  find  any  way  how  these  difficulties  may 
be  removed,  and  how  the  divine  perfections,  and  the 
conduct  of  God  in  his  word,  may  be  fairly  vindicat- 
ed without  the  establishment  of  this  doctrine,  as  aw- 
ful and  formidable  as  it  is. 

'The  ways'  indeed  of  the  great  God  and  his 
*  thoughts  are  above  our  thoughts  and  oyr  ways,  as 
.  the  heavens  are  above  the  earth  ;'  yet  I  must  rest  and 
acquiesce  where  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father's 
chief  Minister,  both  of  his  wrath  and  his  love,  has 
left  me  in  the  divine  revelations  of  Scripture;  and  I 
am  constrained  therefore  to  leave  these  unhappy  crea- 
tures under  the  chains  of  everlasting  darkness,  into 
which  they  have  cast  themselves  by  their  wilful  ini- 


X.  THE  PREFACE* 

quities,  till  the  blessed  God  shall  see  fit  to  release 
them. 

This  would  be  indeed  such  a  new,  such  an  aston- 
ishing and  universal  jubilee,  both  for  devils  and  wick- 
ed men,  as  must  fill  heaven,  earth,  and  hell,  with 
hallelujahs  and  joy  :  In  the  mean  time  it  is  my  ardent 
wish,  that  this  awful  sense  of  the  terrors  of  the  Al- 
mighty, and  his  everlasting  anger,  which  the  word 
of  the  great  God  denounces,  may  awaken  some  souls 
timely  to  bethink  themselves  of  the  dreadful  danger 
into  which  they  are  running,  before  these  terrors  seize 
ihem  at  death,  and  begin  to  be  executed  upon  them 
without  release  and  without  hope. 

Kote.  Where  these  Discourses  shall  be  used  as  a  religious  service  in 
private  families  on  Lord's-day  evenings,  each  of  them  will  aiford  a  division 
near  Uw  middle,  lest  the  service  be  made  too  long  and  tiresome. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  L 


Jn  Essay  toward  the  Proof  of  a  Separate  State  of 

Souls, 

Sect.  I.  THE  introduction  or  proposal  of  the  ques- 
tion with  the  different  oppositions  which 
are  made  to  it,  and  reasons  against 
them  -         -         -         .      Page  13 

Sect,  IL  Probable  arguments  from  Scripture  for  the 
Separate  State  -         -         -       21 

Sect,  III,  Some  firmer  and  more  evident  proofs  of  a 
Separate  State  from  Scripture       r       33 

Sect,  IV,   Objections  against  it  answered        -       S^ 

Sect,  V,  An  answer  to  several  new  objections        78 

The  Discourses  on  the  world  to  co??ie» 

Discourse  I,  The  end  of  time        -         -         -       88 
Discourse    II.    The     watchful    Christian   dying    in 
peace        -         -         -         -     122 
Discourse  III.   Surprise  in  death  -  -     154 

Discourse  IF.  Christ  admired    and  glorified  in  his 
saints        ....     185 
Discourse  V.  The  wrath  of  the  Lamb.  -     221 

Discourse  VL  The  vain  refuge  of  sinners,  or  a  medi- 
tation on  the  rocks  near  Tun- 
bridgcAVclls.      1729.  239 


Xn  CONTENTS. 

Discourse  VI L  No  night  in  heaven  -  I^cigc  263 
Discourse  VI I L  A  soul  prepared  for  heaven  287 
Discourse  IX.  No  pain  among  the  blessed  -  329 
Discourse  X,  The  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  or  the  fore- 
taste of  heaven  -  -  382 
Discourse  XL  Safety  in  the  grave,  and  joy  at  the 
resurrection  «•  -  -  417 
A  speech  over  a  grave          •        -        -        -    451 


AN  ESSAY 

TOWARD  THE  PROOF  OF 

A  SEPARATE  STATE  OF  SOULS 

BETWEEN 

DEATH  AND  THE  RESURRECTION. 


SECTION  I. 

The  introduction  or  proposal  of  the  question^  with  a 
distinction  of  the  persons  ijoho  oppose  it, 

IT  is  confessed  that  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead  at  the  last  day,  and  the  everlasting 
joys,  and  the  eternal  sorrows,  that  shall  succeed  it, 
as  they  are  described  in  the  New  Testament,  are  a 
very  awful  sanction  to  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  carry 
in  them  such  principles  of  hope  and  terror  as  should 
effectually  discourage  vice  and  irreligion,  and  be- 
come a  powerful  attractive  to  the  practice  of  faith 
and  love,  and  universal  holiness. 

But  so  corrupt  and  perverse  are  the  inclinations 
of  men  in  this  fallen  and  degenerate  world,  and  their 
passions  are  so  much  impressed  and  moved  by  things 
that  are  present  or  just  at  hand,  that  the  joys  of  hea- 
ven,  and  the  sorrows  of  hell,  when  .set  far  beyond 
death  and  the  grave  at  some  vast  unknown  distance 
of  time,  would  have  but  too  little  influence  on  their 


14  JLSSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  I. 

hearts  and  lives.  And  though  these  solemn  and  im- 
portant events  are  never  so  certain  in  themselves, 
yet  being  looked  upon  as  things  a  great  way  off, 
make  too  feeble  an  impression  on  the  conscience, 
and  their  distance  is  much  abused  to  give  an  indul- 
gence to  present  sensualities.  For  this  we  have  the 
testimony  of  our  blessed  Saviour  himself,  Matt.  xxiv. 
48.  ''  The  evil  servant  says,  my  Lord  delays  his  com- 
ing; then  he  begins  to  smite  his  fellow  servants,  and 
to  eat  and  drink  with  the  drunken:"  And  Solomon 
teaches  us  the  same  truth,  Eccles.  viii.  11.  *^  Because 
sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  executed  speed- 
ily, therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fully  set 
in  them  to  do  evil."  And  even  the  good  servants  in 
this  imperfect  state,  the  sons  of  virtue  and  piety,  may 
be  too  much  allured  to  indulge  sinful  negligence, 
and  yield  to  temptations  too  easily  when  the  terrors 
of  another  world  are  set  so  far  off,  and  their  hope  of 
happiness  is  delayed  so  long.  It  is  granted,  indeed, 
that  this  sort  of  reasoning  is  very  unjust;  but  so 
foolish  are  our  natures,  that  we  are  too  ready  to  take 
up  with  it,  and  to  grow  more  remiss  in  the  cause  of 
religion. 

Whereas,  if  it  can  be  made  to  appear  from  the 
word  of  God,  that,  at  the  moment  of  death,  the  soul 
enters  into  an  unchangeable  state,  according  to  its 
character  and  conduct  here  on  earth,  and  that  the 
recompences  of  vice  and  virtue,  are,  in  some  mea- 
sure, to  begin  immediately  upon  the  end  of  our  state 
of  trial;  and  if,  besides  all  this,  there  be  a  glorious 
and  a  dreadful  resurrection  to  be  expected,  witheter- 


SECT.  I.  A  SEPARATE   STATE.  15 

nal  pain  or  eternal  pleasure  both  for  soul  and  body, 
and  that  in  a  more  intense  degree,  when  the  theatre 
of  this  world  is  shut  up,  and  Christ  Jesus  appears  to 
pronounce  his  public  judgment  on  the  world,  then  all 
those  little  subterfuges  are  precluded,  which  mankind 
w  ould  form  to  themselves  from  the  unknown  distance 
of  the  day  of  recompence:  Virtue  will  have  a  nearer 
and  stronger  guard  placed  about  it,  and  piety  will  be 
attended  with  superior  motives,  if  its  initial  rewards 
are  near  at  hand,  and  shall  commence  as  soon  as  this 
life  expires;  and  the  vicious  and  profane  will  be 
more  effectually  affrighted,  if  the  hour  of  death  must 
immediately  consign  them  to  a  state  of  perpetual  sor- 
rows and  bitter  anguish  of  conscience,  without  hope, 
and  with  a  fearful  expectation  of  yet  greater  sorrows 
and  anguish. 

I  know  what  the  opposers  of  the  Separate  State 
reply  here,  viz.  That  the  whole  time  from  death  to 
the  resurrection  is  but  as  the  sleep  of  a  night,  and 
the  dead  shall  awake  out  of  their  graves,  utterly  ig- 
norant and  insensible  of  the  long  distance  of  time 
that  hath  past  since  their  death.  One  year  or  one 
thousand  years  will  be  the  same  thing  to  them;  and 
therfore,  they  should  be  as  careful  to  prepare  for  the 
day  of  judgment,  and  the  rewards  that  attend  it,  as 
they  are  for  their  entrance  into  the  Separate  State  at 
death,  if  there  were  any  such  state  to  receive  them. 

I  grant,  men  should  be  so  in  reason  and  justice: 
But  such  is  the  weakness  and  folly  of  our  natures, 
that  men  will  not  be  so  much  influenced  nor  alarm- 
ed by  distant  prospects,  nor  so  solicitous  to  prepare 


16  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  I. 

for  an  event  which  they  suppose  to  be  so  very  far 
off,  as  they  would  for  the  same  event,  if  it  commences 
as  soon  as  ever  this  mortal  life  expires.  The  vici- 
ous man  will  indulge  his  sensualities,  and  lie  down 
to  sleep  in  deadi  with  this  comfort,  *  I  shall  take  my 
rest  here  for  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  years,  and  per- 
haps, in  all  that  space,  my  offences  may  be  forgotten, 
or  something  may  happen  that  I  may  escape :  or,  let 
the  worst  come  that  can  come,  I  shall  have  a  long 
sweet  nap  before  my  sorrows  begin:'  Thus  the  force 
of  divine  terrors  are  greatly  enervated  by  this  delay 
of  punishment, 

I  will  not  undertake  to  determine,  when  the  soul 
is  dismissed  from  the  body,  whether  there  be  any 
explicit  divine  sentence  passed  concerning  its  eter- 
nal state  of  happiness  or  misery,  according  to  its 
works  in  this  life;  or  whether  the  pain  or  pleasure 
that  belongs  to  the  Separate  State  be  not  chiefly  such 
as  arises  by  natural  consequence  from  a  life  of  sin  or 
a  life  of  holiness,  and  as  being  under  the  power  of  an 
approving  or  a  condemning  conscience:  But,  it 
seems  to  me  more  probable,  that  since  *'  the  spirit  re- 
turns to  God  that  gave  it,  to  God  the  Judge  of  all," 
with  whom  ''  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect" 
dwell,  and,  since  the  spirit  of  a  Christian,  when  "  ab- 
sent from  the  body,  is  present  with  the  Lord,"  i.  e. 
Christ,  I  am  more  inclined  to  think  that  there  is 
some  sort  of  judicial  determination  of  this  impor- 
tant point,  either  by  God  himself,  or  by  Jesus 
Christ,  into  whose  hands  ''  he  has  com  nutted  all 
judgment."  Heb.  ix.  27.  *'  It  is  appointed  unto 
men  once  to  die,   but  after  this  the  judgment:" 


SECT.  I.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  17 

Whether  immediate  or  more  distant,  is  not  here  ex- 
pressly declared,  though  the  immediate  connection  of 
the  words  hardly  gives  room  for  seventeen  hundred 
years  to  intervene.  But,  if  the  solemn  formalities 
of  a  judgment  be  delayed,  yet  the  conscience  of  a 
separate  spirit,  reflecting  on  a  holy  or  a  sinful  life,  is 
sufficient  to  begin  a  heaven  or  a  hell  immediately 
after  death. 

Amongst  those  who  delay  the  season  of  recom* 
pence  till  the  resurrection,  there  are  some  who  sup- 
pose the  soul  to  exist  still  as  a  distinct  being  from 
the  body,  but  to  pass  the  whole  interval  of  time  in  a 
state  of  stupor  or  sleep,  being  altogether  unconscious 
and  unactive.  Others  again  imagine,  that  the  soul 
itself  has  not  a  sufficient  distinction  from  the  body  to 
give  it  any  proper  existence  when  the  body  dies; 
but  that  its  existence  shall  be  renewed  at  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body,  and  then  be  made  the  subject  of 
joy  or  pain,  according  to  its  behaviour  in  this  mor- 
tal state. 

I  think  there  might  be  an  effectual  argument 
against  each  of  these  opinions  raised  from  the  princi- 
ples of  philosophy:  I  shall  just  give  a  hint  of  them, 
and  then  proceed  to  search  what  Scripture  has  re- 
vealed in  this  matter,  which  is  of  much  greater  im- 
portance to  us,  and  will  have  a  more  powerful  influ- 
ence on  the  minds  of  Christians. 

I.  Some  imagine  the  soul  of  man  to  be  his  blood  or 
his  breathy  or  a  sort  of  •vital  flame ^  or  refined  air  or 
vapour^  or  the  composition  and  motion  of  the  fluids 
and  solids  in  the  animal  body.     This  they  suppose 


18  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  I. 

to  be  the  spring  or  principle  df  his  intellectual  life, 
and  of  all  his  thoughts  and  consciousness,  as  well  as 
of  his  animal  life.  And  though  this  soul  of  man  dies 
together  with  the  body,  and  has  no  manner  of  sepa- 
rate existence  or  consciousness,  yet  when  hi^  body 
is  raised  from  the  grave,  they  suppose  this  principle 
of  consciousness  is  renewed  again,  and  intellectual 
life  is  given  him  at  the  resurrection  as  well  as  a  new 
corporeal  life. 

But  it  should  be  considered,  that  this  conscious  or 
thinking  principle  having  lost  its  existence  for  a  sea- 
son, it  will  be  quite  a  new  thing,  or  another  creature 
at  the  resurrection ;  and  the  man  will   be  properly 
imoiher person,  another  self,  another  lor  he:   and 
such  a  new  conscious  principle  or  person  cannot  pro- 
perly be  rewarded  or  punished  for  personal  virtues 
or  vices  of  which  itself  cannot  be  conscious  by  any 
power  of  memory    or   reflection,   and    which   were 
transacted  in  this   mortal   state  by   another  distinct 
principle   of  consciousness.     For    if  the   conscious 
principle  itself,    or  the  thinking  being  has  ceased  to 
exist,    it  is  impossible  that  it  should  retain  any  me- 
mory of  former  actions,  since  itself  began  to  be  but  in 
the  moment  of  the  resurrection.    The  doctrine  of  re- 
v;arding  or  punishing  the   same  soul  or   intelligent 
nature  which  did  good  or   evil  in  this  life,   necessa- 
rily requires  tlmt  the  same  soul  or  intelligent  nature 
should  have  a  continued  and  uninterrupted  existence, 
that  so  the  same  conscious  being  which  did  good  or 
evil  may  be  rewarded  or  punished. 


SECT.  I.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  19 

II.  Those  who  suppose  the  soul  of  man  to  have  a 
real  distinct  existence  when  the  body  dies,  but  only 
to  fall  into  a  state  of  slumber  without  consciousness 
or  activity,  must,  I  think,  suppose  this  soul  to  be 
inaterial^  i.e.  an  extended  and  solid  substance. 

If  they  suppose  it  to  be  hiextended^  or  to  have  no 
parts  or  quantity,  I  confess  I  have  no  manner  of  idea 
of  the  existence  or  possibility  of  such  an  inextended 
being,  without  consciousness  or  active  power,  nor 
do  they  pretend  to  have  any  such  idea  as  I  ever  heard, 
and  therefore  they  generally  grant  it  to  be  extended. 

But  if  they  imagine  the  soul  to  be  extended,  it 
must  either  have  something  more  of  solidity  or  den- 
sity than  mere  empty  space,  or  it  must  be  quite  as 
unsolid  and  thin  as  space  itself:  Let  us  consider  both 
these. 

If  it  be  as  thin  and  subtle  as  mere  empty  space, 
yet  while  it  is  active  and  conscious,  I  own  it  must 
have  a  proper  existence;  but  if  it  once  begin  to 
sleep  and  drop  all  consciousness  and  activity,  I  have 
no  other  idea  of  it,  but  the  same  which  I  have  of 
empty  space;  and  that  I  conceive  to  be  mere  nothing, 
though  it  impose  upon  us  with  the  appearance  of 
some  sort  of  properties. 

If  they  allow  the  soul  to  have  any  the  least  degree 
of  density  above  what  belongs  to  empty  space,  this 
is  solidity  in  the  philosophic  sense  of  the  word,  and 
then  it  \s  solid  extension,  which  I  call  matter:  and  a 
material  being  may  indeed  be  laid  asleep,  i.  e.  it  may 
cease  to  have  any  motion  in  its  parts;  but  motion  is 
not  consciousness:    and  how  either  solid  or  unsolicl 


20  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF      -SECT.  I. 

extension,  either  space  or  matter,  can  have  any  con- 
sciousness  or  thought  belonging  to  any  part  of  it,  or 
spread  through  the  whole  of  it,  I  know  not ;'  or  what 
any  sort  of  extension  can  do  toward  thought  or  con- 
sciousness, I  confess  I  understand  not;  nor  can  I 
frame  any  more  an  idea  of  it,  than  I  can  of  a  blue 
motion  or  a  sweet  smelling  sound,  or  of  fire  or  air  or 
water  reasoning  or  rejoicing:  and  I  do  not  affect  to 
speak  of  things  or  words,  when  I  can  form  no  corres- 
pondent ideas  of  what  is  spoken.  « 

So  fin*  as  I  can  judge,  the  soul  of  man  in  its  own 
nature,  is  nothing  else  but  a  conscious  and  active 
principle,  subsisting  by  itself,  made  after  the  image 
of  God,  who  is  all  conscious  activity;  and  it  is  still 
the  same  being,  whether  it  be  united  to  an  animal 
body^  or  separated  from  it.  If  the  body  die,  the  soul 
still  exists  an  active  and  conscious  power  or  principle, 
or  being;  and  if  it  ceases  to  be  conscious  and  active, 
I  think  it  ceases  to  be;  for  I  have  no  conception  of 
what  remains. 

Now,  if  the  conscious  principle  continue  conscious 
after  death,  it  will  not  be  in  a  mere  conscious  indo- 
lence: the  good  man  and  the  wicked  will  not  have 
the  same  indolent  existence.  Virtue  or  vice,  in  the 
very  temper  of  this  being  when  absent  from  matter 
or  body,  will  become  a  pleasure  or  a  pain  to  the  con- 
science of  a  separate  spirit. 

I  am  well  aware  that  this  is  a  subject  which  has 
employed  the  thoughts  of  many  philosophers,  and  I 
do  but  just  intimate  my  own  sentiments  without  pre- 
suming to  judge  for  others.     But  the  defence  or  re- 


SECT.  II.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  21 

futation  of  arguments  on  this  subject,  would  draw  me 
into  a  field  of  philosophical  discourse,  which  is  very- 
foreign  to  my  present  purpose;  and  whether  this 
reasoning  stand  or  fall,  it  will  have  but  very  little  in- 
fluence on  this  controversy  with  the  generality  of 
Christians,  because  it  is  a  thing  rather  to  be  deter- 
mined by  the  revelation  of  the  word  of  God.  I  there- 
fore drop  this  argument  at  once,  and  apply  myself 
immediately  to  consider  the  proofs  that  may  be  drawn 
from  Scripture  for  the  soul's  existence  in  a  Separate 
State  after  death,  and  before  the  resurrection. 


SECTION  II. 

Probable  Arguments  for  the  Separate  State. 

THERE  are  several  places  of  Scripture  in  the 
Old  Testament,  as  well  as  in  the  New,  which  may  be 
most  naturally  and  properly  construed  to  signify  the 
existence  of  the  soul  in  a  Separate  State  after  the 
body  is  dead  ;  hut  since  they  do  not  carry  with  them 
such  plain  evidence,  or  forcible  proof,  and  may  pos- 
sibly be  interpreted  to  another  sense,  I  shall  not  long 
insist  upon  them:  however  it  may  not  be  amiss  just 
to  mention  a  few  of  them,  and  pass  away. 

Psah  Ixxiii.  24,  26.  ^'Thou  shalt  ffuide  me  with 
thy  counsel,  and  afterward  receive  me  to  glory :  my 
flesh  and  my  heart  faileth;  but  God  is  the  strength 
of  my  heart  and  my  portion  for  ever."  In  these 
verses  receiving  /c7.^§-^/;>' seems  immediately  to  follow 


/ 


jj  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE:  PROOF  Of  SECT.  TI. 

i\ guida?icc  through,  this  world;  and  when  the  Jiesb 
and  heart  of  the  Psalmist  should  fail  him  in  death, 
God  continued  to  be  h\^  portion  for  ever,  God  would 
recche  him  to  himself  as  such  sl  portion,  and  thereby 
he  gave  strength  or  courage  to  his  heart  even  in  a  dy- 
ing hour.  It  would  be  a  very  odd  and  unnatural 
exposition  of  this  text  to  interpret  it  only  of  the  re- 
surrection^ thus,  **  Thou  shalt  guide  me  by  thy  coun- 
sel through  this  life,  and  after  the  long  interval  of 
some  thousand  years  thou  wilt  receive  me  to  glory." 

Eccles.  xii.  7.  '*  Then  shall  the  dust  return  to  the 
earth  as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  to  God  that  gave  it.'^ 
It  is  confessed  the  word  spirit  in  the  Hebrew  is  the 
same  with  breath,  and  is  represented  in  some  places 
of  Scripture  as  the  spring  of  animal  life  to  the  body: 
yet  it  is  evident  in  many  other  places,  the  word  spirit 
signifies  the  conscious  principle  in  man,  or  the  intel- 
ligent being,  which  knows  and  reasons,  perceives 
and  acts.  The  Scripture  speaks  of  being  ''  grieved 
in  spirit,"  Isa.  liv.  6.  Of  *'  rejoicing  in  spirit," 
Luke  X.  21.  *'  The  spirit  of  a  man  knoweth  the 
things  of  a  man,"  1  Cor.  ii,  11.  ''  There  is  a  spirit 
in  man,"  i.  e.  a  principle  of  understanding,  Job 
xxxii.  8.  And  this  spirit  both  of  the  wicked  and 
the  righteous  at  death  '*  returns  to  God,"  Eccl.  xii. 
7.  to  God  who  (as  I  hinted  before)  is  the  Judge  of 
all  in  the  world  of  spirits,  probably  to  be  further  de- 
termined and  disposed  of,  as  to  its  state  of  reward 
or  punishment. 

Isa.  Ivii.  2.     *'  7'he  righteous  is  taken  away  from' 
the  evil  to  come,  he  shall  enter  into  peace,  they  shall 


,SECT.    II.  A  S£PARATE  STATE.  23 

rest  in  their  beds,  each  one  walking  in  his  upright- 
ness.'* The  soul  of  every  one  that  walketh  upright- 
]y  shall  at  death  enter  into  a  state  o£  peace  while 
their  body  rests  in  the  bed  of  dust. 

Luke  ix.  30,  31.  **. And  behold  there  talked  with 
him,  (i.  e.  with  Jesus)  two  men  which  were  Moses 
and  Elias,  who  appeared  in  glory,  and  spake  of  his 
decease  \yhich  he  should  accomplish  at  Jerusalem." 
I  grant  it  possible  that  these  might  be  but  mere  vi- 
sions which  appeared  to  our  blessed  Saviour  and  his 
apostles:  but  it  is  a  much  more  natural  and  obvious 
interpretation  to  suppose  that  the  spirits  of  these  two 
great  men,  whereof  one  was  the  institutor,  and  the 
other  the  reformer  of  the  Jewish  church,  did  really 
appear  to  Christ,  who  w^as  the  reformer  of  the  world, 
and  the  institutor  of  the  Christian  church,  and  con- 
verse with  him  about  the  important  event  of  his 
death  and  his  return  to  heaven.  Perhaps  the  spirit 
of  Elijah  had  his  heavenly  body  with  him  there,  since 
he  never  died,  but  was  carried  alive  to  heaven;  but 
Moses  gave  up  his  soul  at  the  call  of  God  when 
no  man  was  near  him,  and  his  body  was  buried  by 
God  himself.  See  2  Kings  ii.  11.  andDeut.  xxxiv. 
i,  5,  6.  and  his  spirit  was  probably  made  visible  only 
by  an  assumed  vehicle  for  that  purpose. 

John  v.  24.  ''  Whoso  heareth  my  word  and  belie v- 
eth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting  life ;  is 
passed  from  death  to  life,"  John  vi.  47,  50,  51. 
*'This  is  the  bread  which  cometh  down  from  hea- 
ven, that  a  man  may  eat  thereof  and  not  die.  If  any 
man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall  live  for  ever."     John 


24  ESSAY   TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  Ilk 

xi.  26.    **  Whoso  liveth  and  believeth  in  me,  shall 
never  die,"   to   which   may   be   added  the  words  of 
Christ  to  the-woman  of  Samaria,  John  iv.  14.  "  The 
water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall   be  in   him   a   well 
of  water,   springing  up    into    everlasting  life."     1 
John  v.  12.    "  He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life,"   &c. 
The  argument  I  draw  from  these  Scriptures  is  this: 
It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  our  Saviour  in  this 
gospel,   and  John  in  his  first  epistle  imitating  him, 
should  speak  such  strong  language  concerning  eter- 
nal life,  actually  given  to  and  possessed  by  the  believ- 
ers of  that  day,  if  there  must  be  an  interruption  of 
it  by  total  death  or  sleep  both  of  soul  and  body  for 
almost  two  thousand  years,  i.  e.  till  the  resurrection. 
Acts  vii.  59.    "  And  they  stoned  Stephen  calling 
upon  God,  and  saying.  Lord  Jesus  receive  my  spir- 
it."    Those  who  deny  a  Separate  State,  suppose  that 
Stephen  here  commits  his  spirit,  or  principle  of  hu- 
man life,  into  the  hands  or  care  of  Christ  (because 
Xht  life  of  a  saint  is  said  to  be  **hid  with  Christ  in 
God,"  Colos.  iii.  3,  4.)  that  he  m/ight  restore  it  at 
the  resurrection,   and  raise  him  to  life  again.     But  I 
think  this  is  an  unnatural  force  put  upon  these  words, 
contrary  to  their  most  obvious  meaning,  if  we  consi- 
der the   context :   for   Stephen  here  had  a  vision  of 
the  *'  Son  of  man,  (or  Christ  Jesus)  standing  on  the 
right  hand  of  God,  and  the  glory  of  God  near  him;" 
see  ver.  5S,  56.     Whereupon    Stephen  being  con- 
scious of  the  existence  of   Christ   in   that  glorious 
state,  desired  that  he  would  receive  his  spirit,  and 
take  it  to  dwell  with  him  in  his  Father's  house ;  not  to 


SECT.  II.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  25 

lie  and  sleep  in  heaven,  for  *'  there  Is  no  night  there," 
but  to  behold  the  glory  of  Christ  according  to  the 
many  promises  that  Christ  had  made  to  his  disciples, 
that  he  ''  would  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  them  in 
his  Father's  house,"  and  that  they  should  be  "  with 
him  there  to  behold  his  glory,"  John  xiv.  and  xvii. 
which  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  afterward. 

Rom.  viii.  10,  11.  '*  And  if  Christ  be  in  you,  the 
body  is  dead  because  of  sin,  but  the  spirit  is  life  be- 
cause of  righteousness,"  i.  e.  If  Christ  dwell  in  you 
by  the  sanctifying  influences  of  his  Spirit,  it  is  true 
indeed,  your  body  is  mortal  and  must  die,  because  it 
is  doomed  to  death  from  the  fall  of  Adam  on  the  ac- 
count of  sin,  and  because  sinful  principles  still  dwell 
in  this  fleshly  body;  but  your  soul  or  spirit  is  life,  or 
(as  some  copies  read  ^«  instead  of  ^««)  your  spirit  lives 
when  the  body  is  dead,  and  enjoys  a  life  of  happiness, 
because  of  the  righteousness  imputed  to  you,  i.  e. 
**  your  justification  unto  life,"  Rom.  v.  17,  18.  21. 
I  know  there  are  several  other  ways  of  construing 
the  w^ords  of  this  verse  by  metaphors  ;  but  the  plain 
and  most  natural  antithesis  which  appears  here  be- 
tween the  death  of  the  body  of  a  saint  because  of  sin 
or  guilt,  and  the  continuance  of  the  spirit  or  soul  in 
a  life  of  peace  because  of  justification  or  righteous- 
ness, and  that  even  when  the  body  is  dead,  gives  a 
pretty  clear  proof  that  this  is  the  sense  of  the  apostle. 
This  is  also  further  confirmed  by  the  next  verse, 
which  promises  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  body  in 
due  time.  "If  the  Spirit  of  him  that  raised  up 
Christ  from  the  dead  dwell  in  you,  he  that  raised  up 


26  ESSAY   TOWARDS  THE  PJIOOF   OF  SECT.  II. 

Christ  from  the  dead,"  i.  e.  God  the  Father,  "  shall 
also  quicken  your  mortal  bodies  by  his  spirit  that 
dwelleth  in  you."  The  spirit  or  soul  of  the  saint  lives 
withoutdying,  because  of  its  pardon  of  sinand  justifi- 
cation  and  sanclification,  in  the  10th  verse;  and  the 
body  (not  the  spirit  or  soul)  shall  be  quickened  or 
raised  to  life  again,  by  the  blessed  Spirit  of  God 
which  dwells  in  the  saints,  ver.  11. 

2  Cor.  V.  1,  2.  **  For  we  know  that  if  our  earthly 
house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have  a 
building  of  God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands  eter- 
5ial  in  the  heavens.  For  in  this  we  groan  earnestly, 
desiring  to  be  clothed  upon  with  our  house  which  is 
from  heaven."  Ver.  4.  **  We  in  this  tabernacle 
groan  being  burdened,  not  for  that  we  would  be  un- 
clothed, but  clothed  upon,  that  mortality  might  be 
swallovvcd  up  of  life."  It  is  evident  that  this  bouse 
Jrom  beave?!,  this  building  of  God,  is  something  which 
is  like  the  clothing  of  a  soul  divested  of  this  earthly 
tabernacle,  ver.  1,  2.  or  it  is  the  clothing  of  the 
whole  person,  body  and  soul,  which  would  abrogate 
the  state  of  mortality,  and  swallow  it  up  in  life,  ver. 
4.  For  though  in  ver.  4.  the  apostle  supposes  that 
the  soul  doth  not  desire  the  death  of  the  body,  or  that 
itself  should  be  unclothed,  and  therefore  he  w^ould  ra- 
ther choose  to  have  this  state  of  blessed  immortality 
superinduced  on  his  body  and  soul  at  once  without  dy- 
ing, .yet  in  the  first  verse  he  plainly  means  such  a 
house  in  or  from  heaven,  or  such  a  clothing  which  may 
come  upon  the  soifl  immediately  as  soon  as  the 
€arihly  house  or  tabernacle  of  his  body  is  dissolved. 


SECT.   II.  A  SEPARATE  STATE,  27 

And  how  dubious  soever  this  may  appear  to  those 
who  read  the  chapter  only  thus  far,  yet  the  8th  verse, 
which  supposes  good  men  to  be  present  witb  Christ 
when  absent  from  the  body,  determines  the  sense  of 
it  as  I  have  explained  it;   of  which  hereafter. 

Perhaps  it  is  hard  to  determine,  whether  this  su- 
perinduced clothing  be  like  the  Shechinah  or  visible 
glory  in  which  Christ,  Moses,  and  Elias,  appeared  at 
the  transfiguration,  and  which  some  suppose  to  have 
belonged  to  Adam  in  innocency ;  or  whether  it  sig- 
nify only  a  state  of  happy  immortality ,  superinduced 
or  brought  in  upon  the  departing  soul  at  death,  or 
upon  the  soul  and  body  united  as  in  this  life,  and 
with  which  those  saints  shall  be  clothed,  who  are 
•'  found  alive  at  the  coming  of  Christ,"  according  to 
1  Cor.  XV.  52,  53,  54.  v^hich  will  not  kill  the  body, 
but  swallow  up  its  mortal  state  in  immortal  life. 

Let  this  matter,  I  say,  be  determined  either  way, 
yet  the  great  point  seems  to  be  evident,  even  beyond 
probability,  that  there  is  a  conscious  being  spoken  of, 
which  is  very  distinct  from  its  tabernacle^  or  house^ 
or  clothings  and  which  exists  still,  whatever  its  cloth- 
ing or  its  dwelling  be,  or  v/hether  it  be  put  off  or  put 
on  ;  and  that,  when  the  earthly  house  or  vessel  is  dis- 
solved or  put  olT,  the  heavenly  house  or  clothing  isr 
ready  at  hand  to  be  put  on  immediately,  to  render 
the  soul  of  the  Christian  fit  to  be  present  iviih  the 
Lord. 

2  Cor.  xii.  2,  3.  ''I  knew  a  man  in  Christ  above 
fourteen  years  ago,  whether  in*  the  body  or  out  of  the 
body,  I  cannot  tell,  God  knov/eth;   how  that  he  was 


28  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF   OF  SECT.   IT. 

caught  up  into  paradise,  and  heard  unspeakable 
words."  I  grant  this  ecstacy  of  the  apostle  docs  not 
actually  shew  the  existence  of  a  Separate  State  after 
death  till  the  resurrection;  yet,  it  plainly  manifests 
St.  Paul's  belief,  that  there  might  be  such  a  state, 
and  that  the  soul  might  be  separated  from  the  body, 
and  might  exist,  and  think,  and  know,  and  act,  in 
paradise,  in  a  state  of  separation,  and  hear,  and  per- 
haps converse  in  the  unspeakable  language  of  that 
world,  while  it  was  absent  from  the  body. 

And,  as  1  acknowledge  I  am  one  of  those  persons 
who  do  not  believe  that  the  intellectual  spirit  or  mind 
of  man  is  the  proper  principle  of  animal  life  to  the 
body,  but  that  it  is  another  distinct  conscious  being, 
that  generally  uses  the  body  as  an  habitation,  engine, 
or  instrument,  while  its  animal  life  remains;  so  I  am 
of  opinion,  it  is  a  possible  thing  for  the  intellectual 
spirit,  in  a  miraculous  manner,  by  the  special  order 
of  God,  to  act  in  a  state  of  separation  without  the 
death  of  the  animal  body,  since  the  life  of  the  body 
depends  upon  breath  and  air,  and  the  regular  temper 
and  motion  of  the  solids  and  fluids,  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed.-^-   And  St.  Paul  seems  here  to  be  of  die  same 

*  It  would  be  thought,  perhaps,  a  little  foreign  to  my  present  purpose, 
if  I  should  stay  liere,  to  prove  that  it  is  not  the  conscious  principle  in 
man  that  gives  or  maintain *the  animal  life  of  his  body.  It  is  granted, 
that,  according  to  the  course  of  nature,  and  the  general  appointment  of 
of  God  therein,  this  conscious  principle  or  spirit  continues  its  communi- 
cations with  the  body,  while  the  body  has  animal  life,  or  is  capable  of  its 
natural  motions,  and  able  to  obey  the  volitions  of  the  spirit;  and,  on  this 
account,  the  '  union  of  tlie  rational  spirit  to  the  body,'  and  '  the  animal 
life  of  the  body,'  are  often  represented  as  one  and  the  same  thing. 


SECT.  ir.  A  SEPARATE  STATE,  29 

mind,  by  his  doubting  whether  his  spirit  was  in  the 
body  or  out  of  the  body,  whilst  it  was  wrapt  into  the  third 
hea'oen  and  enjoyed  this  vision,  his  body  being  yet 
alive. 

Phil.  i.  21.  **  For  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die 
is  gain."  The  apostle,  whilst  he  was  here  upon 
earth,  spent  his  life  in  the  service  of  Christ,  and  en- 
joyed  many  glorious  communications  from  him. 
**  For  him  to  live  was  Christ."  And,  on  this  account, 
he  was  contented  to  continue  here  in  life  longer:  Yet 
he  is  well  satisfied  that  death  would  be  an  advantage  or 
gain  to  him*  Now  we  can  hardly  suppose  what 
gain  it  would  be  for  St.  Paul  to  die,  if  his  soul  im- 
mediately  went  to  sleep,  and  became  unactive  and 
unconscious,  while  his  body  lay  in  the  grave,  and 
neither  soul  nor  body  could  do  any  service  for  Christ, 
or  receive  any  communications  from  him,  till  the 
great  rising-day.  This  text  seems  to  carry  the  ar- 
gument above  a  mere  probability. 

But*  if  we  enter  into  a  philosophical  consideration  of  things,  we  should 
remember  that  animals  of  every  kind  in  earth,  air,  and  sea,  and  even  the 
minutest  insects  which  swarm  in  millions,  and  worlds  of  them,  which  are 
invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  have  all  an  animal  life,  but  no  such  conscious 
or  thinking  principle  as  is  in  man :  and  why  may  not  the  body  of  man 
have  the  same  sort  of  animal  life  quite  distinct  from  the  conscious  spirit  ? 

Besides,  if  this  conscious  principle  give  life  to  the  body,  medicines  and 
physicians,  whose  power  reaches  only  to  rectify  the  disordered  solids 
or  fluids  of  the  body,  would  not  be  so  necessary  to  preserve  life,  as 
an  orator  to  persuade  the  spirit  to  continue  in  the  body  and  preserve  its 
life.  And  accordingly,  we  read  of  foreign  ignorant  nations,  where  the 
kindred  persuade  the  dying  person  to  live  and  tarry  with  them,  and  not 
to  forsake  them  ;  and,  when  the  person  is  dead,  they  mourn  and  reprove 
him,  •  Why  were  you  so  unkind  to  leave  and  forsake  us;'  and  indeed  this 
conduct  of  those  poor  savages  is  a  very  natural  inference  from  their  suppo- 
sition of  the  intelligent  spirit  giving  animal  life  to  the  body. 

£ 


30  liSSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  II. 

1  Thess.  iv.  14.  *'  For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died, 
and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  which  sleep  in  Je- 
sus will  God  bring  with  him."  The  most  natural 
and  evident  sense  of  these  words  is  this,  that  when 
the  man  Jesus  Christ  (in  whom  dwells  the  fullness  of 
the  Godhead)  shall  descend  from  heaven,  in  order  to 
raise  the  dead  bodies  of  those  that  died  or  went  to 
sleep  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  God  dwelling  in  him, 
will  bring  with  him  the  souls  of  his  saints  who  were 
in  paradise,  down  to  earth  to  be  reunited  to  their  bo- 
dies when  Jesus  raises  them  from  the  dead,  of  which 
the  apostle  speaks  in  the  6th  verse :  This,  I  say,  is 
the  most  natural  and  obvious  sense ;  other  para- 
phrases of  the  words  seem  strained  and  unnatural. 

1  Thess.  V.  10.  "  Jesus  Christ,  who  died  for  us, 
that  whether  we  wake  or  sleep,  wx  should  live  toge- 
ther with  him."  Sleep  is  the  death  of  good  men,  in 
the  language  of  the  apostle,  in  chap.  iv.  13,  14,  15. 
and  sleep  in  this  verse,  can  neither  signify  natural 
sleep,  as  ver.  7.  nor  spiritual  slotb^  as  ver.  6.  there- 
fore it  must  signify  death  here.  Now,  they  who  sleep 
in  Christ,  in  this  sense,  do  still  Ihe  together  ivith  him 
in  their  souls,  and  shall  live  with  him  in  their  bodies 
also,  when  raised  from  the  dead.  This  exposition 
arises  near  to  a  certainty  of  evidence. 

1  Pet.  iii.  18,  19,  20.  **  Christ  was  put  to  death 
in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  by  the  Spirit ;   by  which 

also  he  went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in  prison, 
which  sometime  were  disobedient,  when  once  the 
long-sufFeriiie:  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah." 
I  confess  this  is  a  text  th:it  has  much  puzzled  inter- 


SECT.  IT.  A  SKPARATE  STATE.  31 

preters,  in  what  sense  Christ  may  be  said  ''  to  go  and 
preach"  to  those  ancient  rebels  who  were  destroyed 
by  the  flood:  whether  lie  did  it  by  his  spirit  working 
in  Noah  the  '' preacher  of  righteousness"  in  those 
days;  or  whether,  in  the  three  days  in  which  the 
body  of  Christ  lay  dead,  his  soul  visited  the  spirits 
of  those  rebels  in  their  separate  state  of  imprison- 
ment, on  which  some  ground  the  notion  of  his  de- 
scent into  hell:  Bat,  let  this  be  determined  as  it  will, 
the  most  clear  and  easy  sense  of  the  apostle,  when 
he  speaks  of  the  ''  spirits  in  prison,"  is,  that  the 
souls  of  those  rebels,  after  their  bodies  were  destroy- 
ed by  the  flood,  were  reserved  in  prison  for  some 
special  and  future  design:  And  this  is  very  parallel 
to  the  present  circumstances  of  fallen  angels  in  Jude 
ver.  6.  '*  The  angels  that  kept  not  their  first  estate, 
he  hath  reserved  in  everlasting  chains  under  darkness, 
unto  the  judgment  of  the  great  day  :"  And  why  may 
not  the  spirits  of  men  be  a  swell  kept  in  such  a  prison 
as  angelic  spirits? 

Jude  ver.  7.  *  Sodom  and  Gomorrha  are  set  forth 
for  an  example,  suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal 
fne.'  It  is  evident  that  the  material  lire  which  de- 
stroyed Sodom  and  Gomorrha  was  not  eternal,  for  a 
great  lake  of  water  quickly  overflowed,  and  now  cov- 
ers all  that  plain  where  the  fire  was  kindled,  which 
burnt  down  tliose  cities.  It  is  manifest  also,  that, 
the  day  of  resurrection  and  future  punishment  being 
not  yet  come,  they  do  not,  at  this  time,  suffer  the 
vengeance  of  eternal  fire  in  their  bodies:  Nor  can 
this  verse,  I  think,  be  well  explained  to  make  Sodom 


32  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  II. 

and  Gomorrha  an  example  to  deter  present  sinners 
from  uncleanness,  but  by  allowing  that  the  spirits  of 
those  lewd  persons  are  now  suffering  a  degree  oi ven- 
geance or  punishment  from  the  justice  of  God,  which 
is  compared  to  that  j^r^  whereby  their  cities  and  their 
bodies  were  burnt;  and  which  vengeance,  at  the  last 
great  day,  shall  continue  their  punishment,  and  pro- 
nounce it  eternal,  or  kindle  material  fire  which  shall 
never  be  quenched. 

The  last  text  I  shall  mention,  is  Rev.  vi.  9.  **  I 
saw  under  the  altar  the  souls  of  them  that  were  slain 
for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  which 
they  held."  I  confess  this  is  a  book  of  visions,  and 
this  place,  amongst  others,  might  be  explained  as  a 
mere  vision  of  the  apostle,  if  there  were  no  other 
text  which  confirmed  the  doctrine  of  a  Separate 
State:  But,  since  I  think  there  are  some  solid  proofs 
of  it  in  other  parts  of  the  New  Testament,  I  know 
not  why  this  may  not  be  explained,  at  least  something 
nearer  to  the  literal  sense  of  it  than  those  will  allow, 
who  suppose  the  soul  to  sleep  from  death  to  the  re- 
surrection. Why  may  not  the  spirits  of  the  martyrs, 
which  are  now  with  God,  pray  him  to  hasten  the, 
accomplishment  of  his  promises  made  to  his  church, 
and  the  day  of  vengeance  upon  his  irreconcileable 
enemies. 


SECT.  III.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  33 


SECTION  III. 

Some  firmer  or  more  evident  proofs  of  a  Separate  State. 

I  COME  now  to  consider  those  texts  which  do 
more  expressly  and  certainly  discover  the  Separate 
State,  and  which,  I  think,  cannot,  with  any  tolerable 
appearance  of  reason,  be  turned  aside  from  their  plain 
and  obvious  intention,  to  reveal  and  declare  that 
there  is  a  Separate  State  of  souls.  And  such,  in  my 
opinion,  are  these  thet  follow. 

I.  Text,  Matth.  x.  28.  *'  Fear  not  them  which  kill 
the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul;  but  rather 
fear  him  who  is  able  to  destroy  both  body  and  soul 
in  hell."  Every  common  reader,  as  well  as  every 
man  of  learning,  who  reads  this  text  with  a  sincere 
mind  and  without  prejudice,  I  think,  will  acknow- 
ledge at  least,  that  the  most  obvious  and  easy  sense 
of  the  words,  implies,  that  there  is  a  soul  in  man 
which  men  cannot  kill,  even  though  they  kill  the 
body. 

It  is  to  very  little  purpose  for  writers  to  say,  that 
the  Greek  word  4^^;^"  which  we  translate  soul  here, 
doth  in  other  places  of  Scripture,  and  even  in  the 
39th  verse  of  this  very  chapter,  signify  lifey  and  con- 
sequently  here  it  may  also  signify  the  animal  life  or 
person  of  the  man ;  for  it  is  manifest,  that  in  this 
place  it  must  signify  some  immortal  principle  in 
man  that  cannot  die;  whereas  when  the  body  is 
killed,  the  animal  life  dies  too,  and  does  not  exist  till 
the  body  is  raised  again:   but  the  soul  is  a  principle 


34  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF      SECT.  III. 

in  this  place  which  men  cannot  kill  even  though  they 
destroy  the  life  of  the  body :  and  whatsoever  other 
senses  the  word  ■^^x*'  niay  obtain  in  other  texts,  that 
cannot  preclude  such  a  sense  of  it  in  this  text,  as  is 
most  usual  in  itself,  and  which  the  context  makes  ne- 
cessary in  this  place. 

Nor  will  it  avail  the  supporters  of  the  mortality  of 
the  soul  to  say  that  this  Scripture  means  only  that 
7nen  cannot  kill  the  soul  for  ruer,  so  that  it  shall  for 
ever  perish  and  have  no  future  life  hereafter  by  a  re- 
surrection :  for  in  this  sense  men  cannot  kill  the  hody^ 
so  that  it  shall  never  revive  or  rise  again:  but  here 
is  a  plain  distinction  in  the  text,  that  the  body  may- 
be killed,  but  the  soul  cannot. 

And  I  think  this  Scripture  proves  also,  that  though 
the  body  may  be  laid  to  sleep  in  the  grave,  yet  the 
soul  cannot  be  laid  to  sleep;  for  the  substance  of  the 
body  still  exists,  and  is  not  utterly  destroyed  by  kill- 
ing it,  but  only  laid  to  sleep  for  a  time,  as  the  Scrip- 
ture often  describes  death:  but  the  soul  cannot  be  thus 
laid  to  sleep  for  a  time,  with  its  substance  still  exist- 
ing, for  that  would  be  to  have  no  pre-eminence 
above  the  body,  which  is  contrary  to  this  assertion 
of  our  Saviour. 

II.  Luke  xvi.  22,  &c.  *'  The  beggar  died  and  was 
carried  by  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom :  The  rich 
man  also  died  and  was  buried,  and  in  hell  he  lifted 
up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments,  and  said,  Father 
Abraham,  have  mercy  on  me,  &c.  and  send  Lazarus, 
ver.  27.  to  my  father's  house  that  he  may  testify  to 
my  brethren,  lest  they  come  also  into  this  place  of 


SlilCT.  III.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  56 

torment."  I  grant  that  this  account  of  the  rich  man 
and  the  beggar  is  but  a  parable,  and  yet  it  may  prove 
the  existence  of  the  rich  man's  soul  in  a  place  of  tor- 
ment before  the  resurrection  of  the  body;  1.  Because 
the  existence  of  souls  in  a  Separate  State,  whilst 
other  men  dwell  here  on  earth,  is  the  very  foimcla- 
iion  of  the  whole  parable,  and  runs  through  the  whole 
of  it.  The  poor  man  died  and  his  soul  was  in  para- 
dise. The  rich  man's  dead  body  was  buried  and 
his  soul  was  in  hell,  while  his  five  brethren  were  here 
on  earth  in  a  state  of  probation,  and  would  not 
hearken  to  Moses  and  the  prophets. 

2.  Because  the  very  design  of  the  parable  is  to 
shew,  that  a  ghost  sent  from  the  other  world,  whe- 
ther heaven  or  hell,  to  wicked  men  who  are  here  in 
a  state  of  trial,  will  not  be  sufficient  to  convert  them 
to  holiness,  if  they  reject  the  means  of  grace  and  the 
ministers  of  the  word.  The  very  design  of  our  Sa- 
viour seems  to  be  lost,  if  there  be  no  souls  existing 
in  a  Separate  State.  A  ghost  sent  from  the  other 
v^'orld  could  never  be  supposed  to  have  any  influence 
to  convert  sinners  in  this  world,  even  in  a  parable,  if 
there  w^ere  no  such  things  as  ghosts  there.  The  rich 
man's  five  brethren  could  have  no  motive  to  hearken 
to  a  ghost  pretending  to  come  from  heaven  or  hell, 
if  there  were  no  such  thing  as  ghosts  or  separate  souls 
either  happy  or  miserable.  Now  surely,  if  parables 
can  prove  any  thing  at  all,  they  must  prove  those 
propositions  which  are  both  the  foundation  and  the 
design  of  the  whole  parable. 


36  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OP  SECT.  III. 

3.  I  might  add  yet  further,  that  it  is  very  strange 
that  our  Saviour  should  so  particularly  speak  of  an- 
gels carrying  the  soul  of  a  man,  whose  body  was  just 
<lead,  into  heaven  or  paradise,  which  he  calls  Abra- 
barn's  bosom;  if  there  were  no  such  state  or  place  as 
a  heaven  for  separate  souls;  if  Abraham's  soul  had 
had  no  residence  there,  no  existence  in  that  state; 
if  angels  had  never  any  thing  to  do  in  such  an  office. 
What  would  the  Jews  have  said  or  thought  of  a  pro- 
phet come  from  God,  who  had  taught  his  doctrines 
to  the  people  in  such  parables  as  had  scarce  any  sort 
of  foundation  in  the  reality  or  nature  of  things. 

But  you  will  say  the  Jews  had  such  an  opinion 
current  among  them,  though  it  was  a  very  false  one, 
and  that  this  was  enough  to  support  a  parable  :  I  an- 
swer, w^hat  could  Christ  (who  is  truth  itself)  have 
said  more  or  plainer  to  confirm  the  Jews  in  this  gross 
error  of  a  Separate  State  of  souls,  than  to  form  a  pa- 
rable which  supposes  this  doctrine  in  the  very  design 
and  moral  of  it,  as  well  as  in  the  foundation  and  mat- 
ter of  it. 

III.  Luke  XX.  37,  ^^.  ''  Now  that  the  dead  are 
raised  even  Moses  shewed  at  the  bush,  when  he  call- 
eth  the  Lord  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac, 
and  the  God  of  Jacob;  for  he  is  not  a  God  of  the 
dead  but  of  the  living;  for  all  live  unto  him.''  Some 
learned  men  suppose  that  the  controversy  between 
Christ  and  the  Sadducees  in  this  place  was  about  the 
anastasisy  which  implies  the  whole  state  of  existence 
after  death,  including  both  the  Separate  State  and 
the  resurrection,  because  the  Sadducees  denied  both 
these  at  once,  and  believed  that  deadi  finished  the 


SECT.   III.  A   SEPARATE  STATE.  37 

whole  existence  of  the  man.  ^'  They  denied  angels 
and  spirits,"  Acts  xxiii.  8.  i.  e.  separate  souls  of 
men,  and  thought  the  rewards  and  punishments  men- 
tioned in  Scripture  related  only  to  this  life.  Upon 
this  account  they  suppose  our  Saviour's  design  is 
to  prove  the  existence  of  persons  or  spirits  in  the 
Separate  State  as  much  as  the  resurrection  of  the 
body. 

And  when  he  says,  that  the  Lord  or  Jehovah  is  de- 
scribed as  the  God  of  Abraham^  &c.  it  supposes  Abra- 
ham at  the  same  time  to  have  actually  some  Ufe  and 
existence  in  some  state  or  other,  for  "  God  is  iiot  a 
God  of  the  dead  but  of  the  living,  "y^^r  all  that  are  dead 
and  gone  out  of  this  v/orld  still  live  unto  God,  i.  e. 
they  have  a  present  life  in  the  invisible  world  of  spi- 
rits as  God  is  an  invisible  Spirit,  as  well  as  they  ex- 
pect a  resurrection  of  their  body  in  due  time. 

How  could  God  in  the  days  of  Moses  be  called  ac- 
tually *<  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,"  who 
were  long  since  dead,  if  there  was  no  sense  in  which 
they  were  now  alive  to  God,  since  our  Saviour  de- 
clares God  is  properly  "  the  God  only  of  the  living, 
and  not  of  the  dead  ?"  This  part  of  the  argument  holds 
good  in  whatsoever  sense  you  construe  the  whole 
debate,  and  by  whatsoever  Wd'^/z/;?2  or  connection  you 
prove  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body; 
and  this  is  obvious  to  the  honest  and  unlearned  rea- 
der, as  well  as  to  the  men  of  learning. 

IV.  Luke  xxiii.  42,  43.  "■  And  he  (that  is,  the 
penitent  thief  upon  the  cross)  said  unto  Jesus,  Lord, 
remember  me  when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom: 

F 


38  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF      SECT.  III. 

and  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  to- 
day shah  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise."     The  thief 
upon  the  cross  beheved  that  Christ  would  enter  into 
paradise  which  he  supposed  to  be  Christ's  kingdom, 
when  he  departed  from  this  %vorId  which  was  not  his 
Vingdom ;  and  this  he  believed  partly  according  to  the 
common  sentiment  of  the  Jews  concerning  good  men 
at  their  death,  as  well  as  it  is  agreeable  to  our  Savi- 
our's own  expressions  to  God,  John  xvii.  11.  "  Ho- 
ly Father,  I  am  no  more  in  the  world  and  I  am  come 
unto  thee:"   or  as  he  had  said  to  his  disciples,  John 
xvi.  28.  '*  I  leave  the  world  and  go  to  the  Father." 
And  according  to  these  expressions,   Luke  xxiii. 
46.  Christ  dies  with  these  words  on  his  lips,    '*  Fa- 
ther into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit."     Our 
Saviour  taking  notice  of  the  repentance  of  the  thief, 
acknowledging  his  own  guilt,  thus,   "  we  are  justly 
under  this  condemnation  and  receive  the  due  reward 
of  our  deeds;"  and  taking  notice  also  of  his  faith  in 
the  Messiah,  as  a  king  whose  "  kingdom  was  not  of 
this  world,"  when  he  prayed,  <'Lord,  remember  me 
when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom:"  Christ,  I  say, 
taking  notice  of  both  these,  answers  him  with  a  pro- 
mise of  much  grace,    *'  Verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  to- 
day shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise." 

The  use  of  the  w^ord  paradise  in  Scripture,  and 
amongst  ancient  writers  Jewish  and  Christian,  is  to 
signify  the  '  happiness  of  holy  souls  in  a  separate 
State;'  and  our  Saviour  entering  into  that  state  at 
his  death  declared  to  the  ^"^iw^  penitent,  that  he 
should  be  with  him  there  irnmediately.    It  is  certain 


SECT.  III.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  39 

that  by  the  word  paradise  St,  Paul  means  the  place 
of  happy  spirits,  into  which  he  was  transported,  2 
Cor.  xii.  4.  And  this  sense  is  very  accommodate 
and  proper  to  this  expression  of  our  Saviour  and  to 
the  prayer  of  the  penitent  thief,  and  it  is  as  suitable 
to  the  design  of  Christ  in  his  epistle  to  the  church  of 
Ephesus,  Rev.  ii.  7.  *'  the.  tree  of  life  in  the  midst 
of  the  paradise  of  God,"  which  are  the  only  three 
places  where  the  New  Testament  uses  this  word. 

I  know  there  have  been  great  pains  taken  to  shew 
that  the  stops  should  be  altered,  and  the  comma 
should  be  placed  after  the  word  to-day^  thus,  '  I  say 
unto  thee  to-day,  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  paradise,' 
i.  e.  some  time  or  other  hereafter.  As  though  Christ 
meant  no  more  than  this,  viz.  *  Thou  askest  me  to 
remember  thee  when  I  come  into  my  kingdom:  and 
I  declare  unto  thee  truly  this  very  day,  that  some  long 
time  hereafter  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  happiness  at 
thy  resurrection,  when  7ny  kingdom  shall  be  just  at 
an  end  and  I  shall  gii^e  it  all  up  to  the  Father ^^  as  in 
1  Cor.  XV.  24.  Can  any  one  imagine  this  to  be  the 
meaning  of  our  blessed  Saviour  in  answer  to  this 
prayer  of  the  dying  penitent  ?  \  know  also  there  are 
other  laborious  criticisms  to  represent  these  words 
(to-day J  in  other  places  of  Scripture  as  referring  to 
some  distant  time,  and  not  to  mean  that  very  day  of 
twenty-four  hours:  but  rather  than  enter  into  a  long 
and  critical  debate  upon  all  these  texts,  I  will  venture 
to  trust  the  sense  of  it  in  this  place  with  any  sincere 
and  unlearned  reader. 


40  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  III. 

But  if  we  consult  the  learned  Dr.  Whitby,  he  will 
tell  us,   that  it  was  a  familiar  phrase  of  the  Jews  to 
say,  on  a  just  man's  dyinc^,  *  to  day  shall  he  sit  in  the 
bosom  of  Abraham:'   And  it  was  their  opinion,  that 
the  *  souls  of  the  righteous,  who  were  very  eminent 
in  piety,   were  carried  immediately   into  paradise.' 
The  Chaldee  paraphrase  on  Solomon's  Song,  iv.  12. 
takes  some  notice  of  the  '  souls  of  the  just,  who  are 
carried  into  paradise  by  the  hands  of  angels.'     Gro- 
tius,  in  his  notes  on  Luke   xxiii.  43.  mentions  the 
heartv  and  serious'wish  of  the  Jews  concerninsr  their 
friends  who  are   dead,    in  the  language  of  the  Tal- 
mudical  writers,  '  let  his  soul  be  gathered  to  the  gar- 
den of  Eden:'   And,  in  their  solemn  prayers  when 
one  dies,  '  let  him  have  his  portion  in  paradise,  and 
also  in  the  world  to  come,'  by  which  they  mean  the 
state  of  the  resurrection,   and  plainly  distinguish  it 
from  this  immediate  entrance  into  Eden  or  paradise 
at  the  hour  of  death.     The  Jews  suppose  Enoch  to 
be  carried  to  paradise  even  in  his  body ;  and  that  the 
souls  of  good  men  have  no  interruption  of  life,   but 
that  there  was  a  *  reward  for  blameless  souls,'  as  the 
book  of  Wisdom  speaks,  chap.  ii.  22.  *'  For  God  cre- 
ated man  to  be  immortal,  and  to  be  an  image  of  his 
own  eternity,"  which  seems  to  suppose  bla??7cless souls 
entering  into  this  reward  without  interruption  of  their 
life.    And,  if  this  be  the  meaning  o^  paradise  among 
the  Jews,  doubdess  our  Saviour  spake  the  words  in 
such  a  kno^^  nand  common  sense,  in  which  the  peni- 
tei)t  thief  wouk!  eafrily  and  presently  understand  him, 
it  being  a  promise  of  grace  in  his  dying  hour,  where- 


SECT.  111.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  41 

in  he  had  no  long  time  to  study  hard  for  the  sense  of 
it,  or  consult  the  critics  in  order  to  find  the  meaninj^. 

We  come  now  to  consider  the  writings  of  St. 
Paul:  And  it  is  certain,  that  the  most  natural  and 
obvious  sense  of  his  words,  in  many  places  of  his 
epistles,  refer  to  a  Separate  State  of  the  souls  after 
death:  For,  as  he  was  a  Pharisee  in  his  sentiments 
of  religion,  so  he  seems  to  be  something  of  a  Platon- 
ist  in  philosophy,  so  far  as  Christianity  admitted  the 
same  principles.  Why  then  should  it  not  be  reason- 
ably supposed,  wheresoever  he  speaks  of  this  subject, 
and  speaks  in  their  language  too,  that  lie  means  the 
same  thing  which  the  Pharisees  and  Platonists  believ- 
ed, that  is,  the  immortality  and  life  of  the  soul  in 
a  Separate  State.  But  I  proceed  to  the  particular 
texts. 

V.  2  Cor.  V.  6,  8.  *'  Therefore  we  are  always  con- 
fident, (or  of  good  courage,)  knowing,  that  whilst  we 
are  at  home  in  the  body  we  are  absent  from  the 
Lord :  We  are  confident,  I  say,  and  willing  rather  to 
be  absent  from  the  body,  and  to  be  present  with  the 
Lord."  The  apostle  ver.  4.  seems  to  wish  that  he 
might  be  clothed  upon  at  once  with  immortality  in 
soul  and  body,  without  dying  or  being  unclothed  : 
But  since  things  are  otherwise  determined,  then,  in 
the  next  place,  he  would  rather  choose  *  absence 
from  the  body,'  that  he  might  be  *  present  with  the 
Lord.'  These  words  seem  to  be  so  plain,  so  express, 
and  so  unanswerable  a  proof  of  the  spirits  of  good 
men  existing  in  a  Separate  State,  and  being  *  present 
with   the   Lord'    when   they    are   *  absent  from   the 


42  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  III. 

body'  at  death,   that  I  could  never  meet  but  with 
two  ways  of  evading  it. 

The  first  is  what  a  gentleman  many  years  ago, 
who  professed  Christianity,  acknowledged  to  me,  viz. 
that  he  believed  St.  Paul  did  mean,  in  this  place,  the 
same  sense  in  which  I  have  explained  him;  but  he 
thought  St.  Paul  might  be  mistaken  in  his  opinion, 
for  he  was  not  of  the  apostle's  mind  in  this  point. 
I  think  I  need  not  tarry  to  refute  this  answer :  But 
I  may  make  this  remark  upon  it,  viz.  that  the  sense 
of  St.  Paul  concerning  the  Separate  State  was  so  evi- 
dent,  in  this  place,  that  this  man  had  rather  differ 
from  the  apostle  than  deny  this  to  be  his  meaning. 
All  his  prejudices  against  this  doctrine  could  not 
hinder  him  fcpm  acknowledging  that  the  apostle  be- 
lieved and  taught  it. 

The  second  way  of  evading  it  is,  that  this  text, 
with  one  or  two  others  of  like  kind,  do  indeed  speak 
of  the  happiness  of  souls  in  a  Separate  State,  but  it 
doth  refer  only  to  the  apostles  themselves,  who  had 
this  peculiar  favour  and  privilege  granted  them  by 
Christ,  to  follow  him  to  paradise  and  enjoy  his  pre- 
sence there,  while  the  souls  of  other  Christians  were 
asleep,  unconscious  and  unactive  till  the  resurrec- 
tion. 

Jnsvoer  1.  It  is  granted  indeed,  that  several  verses 
of  this  chapter,  as  well  as  in  the  former,  have  a  pecu- 
liar reference  to  the  ministers  of  Christ,  and  perhaps 
to  the  apostles  who  were  his  ambassadors  ;  but  there 
are  many  things  in  'both  these  chapters  that  are  per- 
fectly applicable  to  every  Christian,  and  the  verses 


5ECT.  ril.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  43 

just  before  and  just  after  this  eighth  verse,   may  be- 
long to  all  good  men  as  well  as  to  the  apostles   or 
ministers.  **  He  that  hath  wrought  us  for  the  self-same 
thing,"  i.  e.  for  the  happiness  of  the  future  state,  "  is 
God,  who  hath  also  given  unto  us  the  earnest  of  the 
Spirit,"  at  least  as  an  enlightener  and  sanctifier,    if 
not  as  the  author  of  special  gifts,  for  Rom.  viii.  9. 
"  If  any  man  hath  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none 
of  his."   And  ver.  6.  *'  therefore  we  are  always  con- 
fident," or  of  good  courage,   '*  knowing  that  whilst 
we  are  at  home  in  the  body  we  are  absent  from  the 
Lord,  for  we  walk  by  fl\ith  not  by  sight."     This  is 
or  should  be  the  character  of  every  Christian,     And 
the  9th  verse  that  follows  it  belongs  to  all  the  saints: 
*'  Wherefore  we  labour  that  whether  present  or  ab- 
sent we  may  be   accepted   of  him ;  for  we  must  all 
appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  that  every 
one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  his  body  accord- 
ing to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad." 
Now  why  should  we  suppose  that  St.  Paul  excludes 
all  other  Christians  besides  himself  and  his  brethren 
the  apostles  from  the  blessing  of  the  8th  verse,  viz. 
that  when  they  are   **  absent  from  the  body  they 
shall  be  present  with  the  Lord,"  since  the  verses  all 
round  it  are  applicable  to  all  Christians? 

Answer  2.  These  chapters  were  written  with  a  de- 
sign not  only  to  vindicate  and  encourage  the  nposde 
himself  under  the  sufferings  and  reproaches  wl"ch  he 
met  with,  but  doubtless  to  give  encouragement  lo  thi. 
Corinthians,  and  all  Christians  under  any  sufferings 
or  reproaches   they  might  meet  with  in  the  world; 


44  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF   OF  SECT.   Til. 

that  (as  he  expresses  it  a  little  before)  they  might 
learn  ''  to  walk  by  faith  and  to  look  at  the  things 
which  are  unseen,  which  are  eternal."  And  indeed 
if  this  peculiar  blessing  of  the  happiness  of  a  Sepa- 
rate State  belongs  only  to  the  apostles,  how  much 
are  the  comforts  of  the  New  Testament  narrowed 
and  diminished,  and  the  faith  and  hope  of  common 
Christians  discouraged  and  enervated,  and  their  mo- 
tives to  holiness  weakened,  when  they  are  told,  that 
they  have  nothing  to  do  to  lay  hold  upon  such  promi- 
sed favours,  such  revelations  of  grace,  because  they 
belong  only  to  the  apostles  and  not  to  them. 

And  indeed  how  shall  common  Christians  ever 
know  what  part  of  the  epistles  they  may  apply  to 
themselves  for  their  direction  and  consolation,  if  they 
may  not  hope  in  such  words  of  grace,  where  the  holy 
writers  use  the  word  %ve,  and  do  not  plainly  intimate 
that  they  belong  to  preachers  or  apostles  only  ? 

A?iswer  3.  When  our  Saviour  prays  for  himself 
and  bis  apostles  in  the  beginning  of  tjie  xviith  of  St. 
John,  he  comes  in  the  20rh  verse  to  extend  the  bless- 
ings he  had  prayed  for  to  all  believers.  Ver.  20. 
"Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also 
which  shall  believe  on  me  through  their  word;  that 
they  all  may  be  one,  as  thou.  Father,  art  in  me,  and 
1  in  thee,  that  they  may  be  one  in  us;  that  the  world 
may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me."  Ver.  24.  ''  Fa- 
ther, I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given  me 
may  be  with  me  where  I  am,  that  they  may  behold 
my  glory  which  thou  hast  given  me."  Here  it  is 
evident  that  our  Saviour  prays  that  those  that  shall 


SECT.  III.  A  SEPARATE   STATE.  45 

believe  on  him  through  the  word  of  the  Apostles  may- 
be present  with  him  in  his  kingdom  to  behold  his 
glory;  and  is  not  that  a  very  considerable  j)art  of  his 
glory,  which  the  Father  hath  conferred  upon  him  to 
be  Lord  and  King  and  head  of  his  church?  but  this 
peculiar  glory  reaches  no  further  than  the  resurrec- 
tion and  judgment,  and  cannot  be  seen  afterwards; 
for  in  1  Cor.  xv.  '24,  ''  then  cometh  the  end,  and 
Christ  shall  deliver  up  the  kingdom  to  God  the  Fa- 
ther ;  the  Son  himself  also  shall  be  subject  unto  the 
Father,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all,"  ver.  28. 

As  for  that  final  blaze  of  supreme  glory  wherein 
Christ  shall  appear  at  the  day  of  judgment  just  be- 
fore he  resigns  up  his  kingdom,  and  which  perhaps 
is  once  called  bis  kingdom,  2  Tim.  iv.  1.  When 
*'  he  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  and  of  his 
holy  angels  as  u'cll  as  his  own,"  Mark  viii.  3S.  The 
sight  of  it  shall  be  public  and  common  to  all  the 
world,  and  not  any  peculiar  favour  to  the  saints. 

It  seems  therefore  most  probable  that  it  is  only  or 
chiefly  in  the  Separate  State  of  souls  departed,  that 
the  saints  have  a  special  promise  of  beholding  this 
mediatorial  glory  of  Christ  in  his  kingdom;  and  this 
favour  our  Saviour  entreats  of  his  Father  for  others 
that  shall  believe  on  him,  as  well  as  for  his  Apostles. 

I  might  here  take  occasion  to  enquire  whether  eve- 
ry text  which  promises  to  other  Christians  as  well  as 
to  the  Apostles,  a  dwelling  with  Christ  '  in  his  king- 
dom,' must  not  have  a  more  special  reference  to  the 
glory  of  the  Separate  State ;  upon  this  very  account, 
because  this  kingdom  of  Christ  ceases  at  the  resur- 


46  ESSAY  TOWARDS   THE  PROOF   01'  SECT.   III. 

rection  and  judgment;  and  particularly  that  text  in 
2  Pet.  i.  11.  **  boan  entrance  shall  be  ministered  un- 
to  you  abundantly  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  :"  which  is  often 
in  Scripture  called  eijerlasting  because  it  continues 
to  the  end  of  the  world;  and  the  '  abundant  entrance 
into  it'  very  naturally  refers  to  our  departure  from 
this  life. 

Answer  4.  I  cannot  find  any  text  of  Scripture 
where  this  blessing  of  being  *  present  with  the  Lord' 
after  death  in  the  Separate  State  is  limited  only  to  the 
Apostles  :  I  read  not  one  v\ord  of  such  a  peculiar  fa- 
vour promised  them  by  Christ;  and  therefore  accord- 
ing to  the  current  coui  se  of  several  other  places  of 
Scripture  which  have  been  here  produced,  1  am  per- 
suaded it  belongs  to  all  true  Christians,  unless  the 
Apostle  in  some  plainer  manner  had  limited  it  tO|him- 
self  and  his  twelve  brethren,  and  secluded  or  forbid 
our  hopes  of  it. 

After  all,  if  it  be  allowed  that  the  Apostles  may  en- 
joy  the  blessedness  of  a  Separate  State  before  the  re- 
surrection, then  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  '  Separate 
State  of  hap.piness  for  souls:'  This  precludes  at  once 
all  the  arguments  against  it  that  arise  from  the  na- 
ture of  things,  and  from  any  supposed  impropriety  in 
such  a  divine  constitution;  And  since  it  is  granted 
that  there  are  millions  of  angels  and  several  human 
spirits  in  this  unbodied  state,  enjoying  happiness,  I 
see  no  reason  why  the  rest  of  the  unbodied  spirits  of 
saints  departed  should  not  be  received  to  their  soci- 


SECT.  III.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  47 

ety  after  death,  unless  there  were  some  particular 
Scriptures  that  excluded  them  from  it. 

VI.  Phil.  i.  23,  24.  **  For  I  am  in  a  strait  betwixt 
two,  having  a  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ; 
which  is  far  better:  nevertheless,  to  abide  in  the 
flesh  is  more  needful  for  you."  When  the  apostle 
speaks  here  of  his  **abidin,e^  in  the  flesh,"  and  his 
'*  departing  from  the  flesh,"  he  declares  the^r^^  was 
the  more  needful  for  the  Philippians,  to  promote  re- 
ligion in  their  hearts  and  lives;  but  the  second  would 
be  better  for  himself,  for  he  should  be  with  Christ, 
when  he  was  departed  from  the  flesh. 

I  would  only  ask  any  reasonable  man  to  determine 
whether,  when  St.  Paul  sjjeaks  of  his  **  being  with 
Christ"  after  his  departure  from  the  ficbh,  he  can 
su|)pose  that  the  Apostle  did  not  expect  to  see  Christ 
till  the  resurrection,  which  he  knew  would  be  a  con- 
siderable distance  of  time,  though  perhaps  it  has 
proved  many  hundred  years  longer  than  the  Apostle 
himself  expected  it  ?  No ;  it  is  evident  he  hoped  to 
*  be  present  with  the  Lord'  immediately  as  soon  as 
he  was  *  absent  from  the  body  ;'  otherwise,  as  I  have 
hinted  before,  death  to  him  would  have  been  but  of 
\ht\e  ^^ain  if  he  must  have  lain  sleeping  till  the  dead 
shall  rise,  and  have  been  cut  off"  from  his  delightful 
service  for  Christ  in  the  gospel  and  all  the  blessed 
communications  of  his  grace.  The  objection  which 
may  arise  here  also  from  supposing  this  to  be  a  pecu- 
liar  favour  granted  to  the  Apostles  is  answered  just 
before. 


48  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.   HI. 

VII.  Hcb.  xii.  23.  *' Ye  are  come  to  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem,  to  an  innumerable  company  of  ane;els,  to 
the  general   assembly   and  church  of  the  first  born 
uhich  are  written  for  registered)  in  heaven,  to  God 
the  j'.Klge  of  all,  5ind  to  the  spirits  pf  just  men  made 
perfect,  and  to  Jesus  the  mediator  of  the  New  cove- 
nant," i.  e.  The  gospel  or  the  Christian  state  brings 
e:ood  men  into  a  nearer  union  and  communion  with 
the  heavenly  world,  and  the  inhabitants  thereof,  than 
the  Jewish  state  could  do  :  now  the  inhabitants  of  this 
upper  world,  this  heavenly  Jerusalem,   are  here  rec- 
koned up,    God  as  the  prime  Lord  or  Head;   Jesus 
the  mediator  as  the  King  of  his  church  ;    *  the  innu- 
merable company  of  angels'  as  ministers  of  his  king- 
dom ;  '  the  general  assembly'  of  God's  favourites  or 
children  \Yho  are  called  the  first-born  ;   perhaps  this 
may  refer  in  general  to  all  the  saints  of  all  ages  past 
and  to  come  whose  names  are  written  in  the  book  of 
life  in  heaven;  and  particularly  to  the  *  separate  spi- 
rits of  just  men'  who  are  departed  from  this  w^orld, 
and  are  made  perfect  in   the   heavenly  state.     The 
criticisms  that  are  used   to   put   other   senses   upon 
these  words  seem  to  carry  them  away  so  far  from  their 
more  plain   and  obvious  meaning,  that  I  can  hardly 
think   they   are   the  meaning  of  the  Apostle  ;  for  it 
would  be  of  very  little  use  for  a  common  Christian 
to  read  these  verses  of  divine  consolation  and  grace, 
ifjie  could  Tcike  no  comfort  from  them  until  he  had 
learnt  those  critical  and  distant  expositions  of  such 
plain  language. 


SECT.  III. 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  49 


It  has  been  indeed  objected  a^^ainst  the  plain  sense 
of  this  text,  that  the  spirits  of  the  just  or  good  men 
are  not  yet  made  perfect  in  heaven,  because  the  same 
Apostle,  Heb.  xi.  39,  40.  says,  ''  These  all,  (i.  e.  the 
saints  of  the   Old  Testament,)   having  obtained  a 
good  report  throuii;h  faith,  received  not  the  promises, 
God  having  provided  some  better  thing  for  us,  that 
they  without  us  should  not  be  made  perfect :''  Now 
these  had  been  dead  for  many  generations,   yet  they 
received  not  the  promises  nor  were  made  perfect. 
Thus  saith  the  objection. 

But  the  evident  meaning  of  this  text  is,  that  they 
lived  and  died  in  the  faith  of  many  promises,  some 
of  which  were  to  be  fulfilled  after  their  days  here  on 
earth,  but  were  not  fulfilled  in  their  life- time  :   they 
did  not  enjoy  the  privileges  and  the  blessings  of  the 
gospel  of  the  Messiah  in  that  perfect  manner  in  which 
we  do  since  the   Messiah  is  actually  come   and  has 
fulfilled  these  promises,  and  by  his  death,  '  or  ofler- 
ing  himself,'  as  the  same  apostle  expresses  it,   ''for 
ever  perfected  them  that  are  sanctified,"  Heb.  x.  14. 
But  all  this  does  by  no  means  preclude  their  exist- 
ence  and   happiness   in   a  Separate  State  as  '  spirits 
made  perfect,'  i.  e.  in  a  perfect  freedom  from  all  sin 
and  sorrow;   though   it  is  probable  this  very  state  of 
comparative  perfection  might  have  several  degrees  of 
joy  added  to  it  at  the  ascension  of  Christ,    and  will 
have  many  more  at  the  resurrection  from  the  dead. 

VIII.  2  Pet.  i.  13.  "•  I  think  it  meet,  as  long  as  I 
am  in  this  tabernacle,  to  stir  you  u]),  by  putting  you 
in  remembrance;  knowing   that  shortly  I  must  put 


50  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF      SECT.  III. 

oft' this  my  tabernacle."  Here  it  is  evident  that  the 
person  who  *  thinks  it  meet  to  stir  up'  Christians  to 
their  duty,  has  a  tabernacle  belonging  to  him,  and 
which  he  must  shortly  put  off.  The  soul  or  thinking 
principle  of  the  Apostle  Peter,  which  is  here  supj)os- 
ed  to  be  himself^  is  so  plainly  distinguished  from  the 
tabernacle  of  the  body  in  which  he  dwelt  for  a  sea- 
son, and  which  hf.- must  put  off  shortly ,  that  it  most  evi- 
dently implies  an  existence  of  this  thinking  soul  ve- 
ry distinct  from  the  body,  and  which  will  exist  when 
the  body  is  laid  aside.  Surely  the  conscious  being 
and  its  tabernacle  or  dwelling  place  are  two  very  dis- 
tinct things,  and  the  conscious  being  exists  when  he 
puts  off"  his  present  dwelling. 

After  all  these  arjj^uments  from  Scripture,  may  I 
be  permitted  to  mention  one  which  is  derived  partly 
from  reason  and  partly  from  the  sacred  records, 
which  seems  to  carry  some  weight  with  it. 

The  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punishments  in  a  Se- 
parate State  of  souls  hath  been  one  of  the  very  chief 
prniciples  or  motives  whereby  virtue  and  religion 
have  been  maintained  in  this  sinful  world  throughout 
all  former  ages  and  nations,  and  under  the  several 
dispensations  of  God  among  men,  until  the  resur- 
rection  of  the  body  was  fully  revealed:  Now,  it  is 
scarce  to  be  supposed  that  such  a  doctrine,  which 
God,  in  the  course  of  his  providence,  hath  made  use 
of  as  a  chief  principle  and  motive  of  religion  an4  vir- 
tue, through  all  the  world  which  had  any  true  virtue, 
and  in  all  asres  before  Christianitv,  should  be  a  false 
doctrine.     Let   us  prove  the   first  proposition  by  a 


SECT.    III.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  51 

view  of  the  several  ages  of  mankind  and  dispensa- 
tions of  religion. 

The  Heathens,  who  have  had  nothing  else  but  the 
light  of  nature  to  guide  them,  could  have  no  notion 
at  all  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  ;  and  therefore, 
not  only  the  wisest  and  best  of  them,  but  perhaps  the 
bulk  of  mankind  among  the  Gentiles,  at  least  in  Eu- 
rope and  Asia,  if  not  in  Africa  and  America  also, 
who  have  been  taught  by  priests,  and  poets,  and  the 
public  opinions  of  their  nation,  and  traditions  of  their 
ancestors,  have  generally  supposed  such  a  Separate 
State  after  this  life,  wherein  their  souls  should  be  re- 
warded or  punished,  except  where  the  fancy  of  trans- 
migration  prevailed;  and  even  these  very  transmi- 
grations into  other  bodies,  viz.  of  dogs,  or  horses,  or 
men,  were  assigned  as  speedy  rewards  or  punish- 
ments of  their  behaviour  in  this  life. 

Now,  though  this  doctrine  of  immediate  recom- 
pences  could  not  be  proved  by  them  with  certainty 
and  clearness,  and  had  many  follies  mingled  with  it, 
yet  the  probable  expectation  of  it,  so  far  as  it  halh 
obtained  among  men,  hath  had  a  good  degree  of  in- 
fluence through  the  conduct  of  common  providence, 
to  keep  the  world  in  some  tolerable  order,  and  pre- 
vent universal  irregularities  and  excesses  of  the  high- 
est degree;  it  hath  had  some  force  on  the  conscience 
to  restrain  the  enormous  wickedness  of  men. 

The  patriarchs  of  the  first  ages,  whose  history  is 
related  in  Scripture,  had  no  notion  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body  expressly  revealed  to  them  that  we 
can  find;   and  it  must  be  the  hope  of  such  a  state  ex 


j2  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  III. 

recompence  of  their  souls  after  death,  that  influenced 
their  practice  of  piety,  if  they  were  not  informed  that 
their  bodies  should  rise  again. 

Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  had  no  plain  and  distinct 
promise  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body;  yet  it  is 
said,  Heb.  xi.  14.  *'-They  received  the  promises," 
that  is,  of  some  future  happiness,  '' and  embraced 
them,  and  confessed  they  were  strangers  and  pilgrims 
on  earth,  whereby  they  plainly  declared,  that  they 
sought  some  other  country,  i.  e.  an  heavenly,  and 
God  hath  prepared  a  city  .for  them."  What  city, 
what  beaiienly  country  can  this  be,  which  they  them- 
selves sought  after,  but  the  city  or  country  of  Sepa- 
rate Souls  or  paradise,  where  good  men  are  reward- 
ed, and  God  is  their  God,  if  they  had  no  plain  pro- 
mises or  views  of  a  resurrection  of  the  body?  And 
indeed  they  had  need  of  a  very  plain  and  express  pro- 
mise of  such  a  resurrection,  to  encourage  their  faith 
and  obedience,  if  they  had  no  notion  or  belief  of  a 
Separate  State,  or  a  heavenly  country^  whither  their 
souls  should  go  at  their  death. 

Job  seems  to  have  some  bright  glimpses  of  resur- 
rection in  chap,  xixth,  but  this  was  far  above  the 
level  of  the  dispensation  wherein  he  lived,  and  a  pe- 
culiar and  distinguishing  favour  granted  to  him  un- 
der his  uncommon  and  peculiar  sufferings. 

In  the  institution  of  the  Jewish  religion  by  Moses, 
there  is  no  express  mention  of  a  resurrection,  and  we 
m.ust  suppose  their  hope  of  a  future  state  was  chiefly 
such  as  they  could  gain  from  the  light  of  nature,  and 
learn  by  traditions  from  their  fiUhers,  or  from  un- 


SECT.    III.  A  SEPARATE   STATE.  5S 

written  instructions.  For,  though  our  Saviour  im- 
proves the  words  of  God  to  Moses  in  the  bubh,  ''  I 
am  the  God  of  Abraham,"  &c.  so  far  as  to  prove  a 
resurrection  from  them,  yet  we  can  hardly  suppose 
the  Israelites  could  carry  it  any  further,  than  merely 
to  the  happiness  of  Abraham's  soul,  &c.  in  some  Se- 
parate State;  and  thence  came  the  notion  of  depart- 
ed souls  of  good  men  '*  going  to  the  bosom  of  Abra- 
ham." 

I  grant  that  David  in  his  Psalms,  Isaiah  and  Daniel 
in  their  prophecies,  have  some  hints  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body;  but  this  doth  not  seem  to  have 
been  the  common  principle  or  support  of  virtue  and 
goodness,  or  a  general  article  of  belief  among  the 
Jews  in  the  early  ages. 

In  the  days  of  the  later  prophets,  and  after  their 
return  from  Babylon,  I  confess  the  Jews  had  some 
notions  of  a  resurrection;  but  they  also  retained 
their  opinion  of  the  *' righteous  souls  being  at  rest 
with  God"  in  a  Separate  State  before  the  resurrec- 
tion. See  the  book  of  Wisdom,  chap.  iii.  1,  2,  3, 
4.  "  The  souls  of  the  righteous  are  in  the  hand  of 
God,  and  there  shall  no  torment  touch  them.  In 
the  sight  of  the  unwise  they  seemed  to  die,  and  their 
departure  is  taken  for  misery,  and  their  going  from 
us  to  be  utter  destruction;  but  they  are  in  peace; 
for,  though  they  be  perished  in  the  sight  of  men,  yet 
is  their  hope  full  of  immortality,  and  iv.  7.  Though 
the  righteous  be  prevented  with  death,  yet  they  shall 
be  in  rest." 

H 


S4f  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOT  or  SECT.  III. 

That  this  was  the  most  common  doctrine  of  the 
Jews,  except  the  Sadducees  and  their  followers,  in 
our  Saviour's  time,  and  that  it  was  the  doctrine  of 
the  primitive  Christians  also,  need  not  be  proved 
here ;  though  they  also  had  the  expectation  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  body. 

Now,^  if  this  be  the  chief  or  only  doctrine  which 
men  could  attain  to  under  the  dispensation  of  natural 
reason,  as  the  most  powerful  motive  to  virtue  and 
piety,  if  this  be  the  chiefest  doctrine  of  that  kind  that 
we  know  of,  which  the  patriarchs  and  primitive  Jews 
enjoyed,  if  this  also  be  a  constant  doctrine  of  later 
Jews,  i.  e.  the  wisest  and  best  of  them,  and  also  of 
the  primitive  Christians^  which  had  so  much  influence 
on  the  good  behaviour  of  all  of  them  toward  God  and 
men,  and  by  which  God  carried  on  his  work  of  piety 
in  their  hearts  and  lives,  and  by  which  also  he  im- 
prest the  consciences  of  evil  men,  in  some  measure, 
and  restrained  them  from  their  utmost  excesses  of 
vice  and  wickedness,  is  it  not  hard  to  be  supposed 
that  this  doctrine  is  all  mere  fancy  and  delusion,  and 
hath  nothing  of  truth  in  it?  And  indeed,  if  this  doc- 
trine had  been  taken  away,  the  Heathens  would  be 
left  without  any  possible  true  notion  of  a  future  state 
of  recompence,  and  the  Patriarchs  seem  to  have  had 
no  sufficient  principle  or  motive  to  virtue  and  piety 
left  them,  and  the  principles  and  motives  of  goodness 
in  the  following  ages  among  Jeijos  and  Christians, 
had  been  greatly  diminished  and  enfeebled. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  chapter,  I  cannot  help 
taking  notice,  (though  I  shall  but  just  mention  it,) 


SECT.  lir.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  55 

that  the  multitude  of  narratives  which  we  have  heard 
of  in  all  ages  of  the  '  apparition  of  the  spirits  or 
ghosts'  of  persons  departed  from  this  hfe,  can  hardly 
be  all  delusion  and  falsehood .  Some  of  them  have 
been  affirmed  to  appear  upon  such  great  and  impor- 
tant occasions,  as  may  be  equal  to  such  an  unusual 
event:  And  several  of  these  accounts  have  been  at- 
tested by  such  witnesses  of  wisdom,  and  prudence, 
and  sagacity,  under  no  distempers  of  imagination, 
that  they  may  justly  demand  a  belief;  and  the  effects 
of  these  apparitions  in  the  discovery  of  murthers  and 
things  unknown,  have  been  so  considerable  and  use- 
ful, that  a  fair  disputant  should  hardly  venture  to  run 
directly  counter  to  such  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  without 
some  good  assurance  on  the  contrary  side.  He  must 
be  a  shrewd  philosopher  indeed,  who,  upon  any  other 
hypothesis^  can  give  a  tolerable  account  of  all  the  nar- 
ratives in  GlanmWs  Sadducismus  Triumphattis,  or 
Baxter^ s  World  of  spirits  and  apparitions,  ^c. 
Though  I  will  grant  some  of  these  stories  have  but 
insufficient  proof,  yet,  if  there  be  but  one  real  appari- 
tion of  a  departed  spirit,  then  the  point  is  gained, 
that  there  is  a  Separate  State. 

And  indeed,  the  Scripture  itself  seems  to  mention 
such  sort  of  ghosts  or  appearances  of  souls  departed, 
Matth.  xiv.  26.  When  the  disciples  saw  Jesus  walk- 
ing on  the  water,  they  *'  thought  it  had  been  a  spi- 
rit:" And,  Luke  xxiv.  36.  After  his  resurrection 
they  saw  him  at  once  appearing  in  the  midst  of  them, 
"and  they  supposed  they  had  seen  a  spirit;"  and 
cur  Saviour  doth  not  contradict  their  notion,   but 


56  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  S£CT.   III. 

argues  with  them  upon  the  supposition  of  the  truth 
of  it,  *' A  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see 
ine  to  ha!ve."  And  Acts  xxiii.  8,  9.  The  word 
spirit  seems  to  signify  the  '  apparition  of  a  departed 
soul,'  uhere  it  is  said  '*  the  Sadducees  say,  There  is 
no  resurrection,  neither  angel  nor'spirii,"  and  ver, 
9.  ''  If  a  spirit  or  an  angel  hath  spoken  to  this  man," 
&c.  A  spirit  here  is  plainly  distinct  from  an  angel, 
and  what  can  it  mean  but  ^n  apparition  of  a  human 
soul  which  has  left  the  body  ? 


SECTION  IV. 

Objections  ansiverecL 

HAVING  pointed  out  so  many  springs  of  argu- 
ment to  support  this  doctrine,  from  the  word  of  God 
as  well  as  from  reason  and  tradition,  I  proceed  r.ow 
to  answer  some  particular  objections  which  are  raised 
against  it. 

Object.  I.  The  Scripture  is  so  far  from  supposing 
that  the  soul  of  man  is  immortal,  or  that  there  is  any 
such  thing  as  the  life  of  the  soul  continuing  after  the 
death  of  the  body,  that  it  often  speaks  of  the  ''  death 
of  the  soul,"  if  tfie  words  were  translated  exactly  ac- 
cordin.^-  to  the  original.  Numb.  xxxi.  19.  "  Whoso- 
ever hath  killed  any  person,"  Hcbr.  any  soul.  1  Sam. 
xxii.  22.  '*I  have  occasioned  the  death  of  every 
soul  of  thy  father's  house."  Judges  xvi.  30.  '*  And 
Sampson  said,  Let  my  soul  die  vvith  the  Philistines." 


SECT.  IV.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  57 

Ezek.  xviii.  20.  ''  The  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die." 
Psal.  Ixxxix.  48.  "  What  man  is  he  that  liveth  and 
shall  not  see  death?  shall  he  deliver  his  soul  ^vom  the 
hand  of  the  ^rave?"  1  Kings  xix.  4.  **  Elijah  re- 
quested for  himself  that  he  might  die,"  Hebr.  that 
his  sou)  might  die. 

Answ.  The  word  soulm  English,  Nephesh  in  He- 
brew, Psyche  in  Greek,  and  Anima  in  Latin,  &c. 
signifies  not  only  the  conscious  and  active  principle 
in  man,  which  thinks  and  reasons,  loves  and  hates, 
hopes  and  fears,  and  which  is  the  proper  aireiu  in  vir- 
tue or  vice,  but  it  is  used  also  to  signify  the  principle 
of  animal  life  and  motion  in  a  living  creature.  And, 
thouiih  these  two  in  themselves  are  very  distinct 
things,  yet,  upon  this  account,  the  word  ^<3;// is  attri- 
buted to  brutes  as  well  as  to  men :  For  the  Jews  as  well 
as  some  Heathens,  in  their  mistaken  philosophy,  sup- 
posed the  same  soul  of  man,  which  gives  natural  life 
to  the  body,  to  be  also  that  very  intellectual  principle, 
whi:h  thinks  and  reasons,  fears  and  loves;  and,  upon 
this  account,  they  gave  both  the^e  principles,  how 
distinct  soever  in  themselves,  one  common  name, 
and  called  them  the  souL 

Now,  the  soul,  or  the  principle  of  animal  life  and 
motion,  being  the  chief  or  most  valuable  thing  in  an 
animal,  it  came  to  pass  that  the  whole  animal  was 
called  a  soul:  therefore,  even  birds  and  fishes  arc 
called  "  living  souls,"  Gen.  i.  20.  and  any  animals 
whatsoever  in  Scripture  are  called  souls  or  living  souls. 
And  then,  for  the  same  reason,  i.  e.  because  the  soul 
of  man  is  his  chief  part,  the  whole  person  of  man  is 
called  his  soul,   Gen.  ii.  7.    ''  Man  became  a  living 


58  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OT  SECT.  IV. 

soul,"  i,  e.  a  living  person.  So  Exod.  i.  5.  **  All 
the  souls  that  came  out  of  the  loins  of  Jacob  were 
seventy  souls,"  i.  e.  all  the  persons  were  seventy. 

And  this  is  not  only  the  language  of  the  Jews,  but 
even  of  other  nations.  In  our  country  we  use  the 
word  souls  to  signify  persons:  So  we  say  'a  poor 
soul,'  when  we  see  a  person  in  misery;  we  use  the 
word  *  a  meagre  soul,'  for  a  thin  man;  we  say,  *  there 
were  twenty  souls  lost  in  the  ship,'  i.  e.  twenty  per- 
sons,' &c. 

Now,  the  word  sotd  among  the  Jews  being  so  uni- 
versally used  to  signify  the  person  of  man,  they  used 
the  same  word  to  signify  tbe  person  when  he  was 
dead  as  well  as  when  he  was  alive.  Numb.  vi.  6. 
'^  He  shall  come  at  no  dead  body,"  in  the  Hebr.  no 
dead  soul,  i.  e.  no  dead  man  or  woman,  or  perhaps 
no  dead  animal. 

Since  the  w^ord  soul  is  taken  so  often  and  so  com- 
monly to  signify  the  person  of  a  man  or  woman,  no 
wonder  that  there  is  so  frequent  mention  of  souls  dy- 
ing in  the  Scripture,  when  human  persons  die. 

And,  if  the  soul  signify  a  man  or  woman  when 
they  are  dead  as  well  as  when  living,  here  is  a  fair  ac- 
count why  the  Scriptures  may  speak  of  the  *' souls 
going  down  to  the  grave,"  or  being  '*  delivered  from 
the  grave,"  he.  Psal.  Ixxxix.  48.  ''  Shall  he  deliver 
his  soul  from  the  hand  of  the  grave?"  This  may 
either  denote  his  principle  of  animal  life,  or  his  per- 
son, i.  e.  himself. 

Now  this  account  of  things  is  very  consistent  with 
the  scriptural  doctrine  of  the  distinction  of  the  intel- 
ligent soul  of  man  from  his  body,  and  the  intelligent 


SECT.  IV.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  59 

soid^s  survival  of  the  body,  nor  do  any  of  these  scrip- 
tural expressions  concerning  the  ^o/// forbid  this  sup- 
position :  For,  though  in  some  places,  the  word  soul 
signifies  the  person  of  the  man  or  his  body,  or  that 
animal  principle  which  may  die,  yet  in  other  places  it 
signifies  that  intelligent  or  thinking  principle  which 
cannot  die,  as  we  have  before  proved  where  our  Savi- 
our tells  us,  *^  we  should  not  fear  them  that  kill  the 
body,  but  cannot  kill  the  soul."  Wheresoever  the 
Scripture  speaks  of  a  *'  soul's  being  killed,"  it 
only  means  tliat  the  *  person  who  was  mortal  is 
slain,'  i.  e.  the  life  of  the  body  is  destroyed,  and  ihe 
man  considered  as  a  compound  being  made  up  of  soul 
and  body  is  in  some  sense  dissolved  when  one  part 
of  the  composition  dies.  But  where  the  so'ul  signi- 
fies the  intellectual  principle  in  man,  it  is  never  said 
to  die^  unless  when  the  w^ord  death  means  a  loss  of 
happiness,  or  living  in  misery;  but  this  implies  na- 
tural life  still,  for  this  soul  cannot  naturally  be  de- 
stroyed by  any  pow^er  but  that  which  made  it. 

If  any  person  object  that  the  apostle  in  Acts  ii.  31. 
says,  *'  the  soul  of  Christ  was  not  left  in  hell,  or  the 
grave;"  for  so  the  word  in  the  Hebrew  may  signify, 
Psal.  xvi.  10.  whence  this  is  cited  ;  there  is  a  suffici- 
ent answer  to-be  given  to  this  two  or  three  ways.  It 
may  be  construed,  that  the  principle  of  the  animal 
life  of  Christ  was  not  left  to  continue  in  death ;  or 
that  the  person  of  the  man  Jesus  was  not  left  in  death 
or  the  grave,  the  body  bein.12:  sometimes  put  for  the. 
person;  or  it  may  be  as  well  construed,  that  the  spi- 
rit of  Christ   or  his  intellectual  soul  was  not  left  in 


60  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.   IV. 

the  state  of  the  dead,  or  of  separation  from  the  body, 
which  the  word  sheol  in  the  Hebrew,  and  «<^»c  in 
Greek,  signif}^ 

Here  it  may  be  observed  also,  that  the  word  which 
signifies  spirit,  ruach^  pneiima^  spiritus^  in  Hebrew, 
Greek  and  Latin,  and  other  languages,  is  used  some- 
times for  air  or  breathy  which  is  supposed  to  be  the 
principle  of  life  to  the  animal  body;  and  sometimes 
it  signifies  the  intellectual  souly  die  conscious  and  ac- 
tive principle  in  man;  and  therefore  whatsoever  may 
be  said  of  the  spirit'' s  dyingy  or  being  lost^  is  no  proof 
that  the  conscious  principle  in  man  dies,  which  is  a 
very  different  thing  from  breath  or  air. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  said  here,  does  not  Moses  sup- 
pose breath  to  be  the  soul  or  spirit  in  man,  when  he 
says,  Gen.  ii.  7.  *'  God  breathed  into  his  nostrils 
the  breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul." 

I  answer,  it  is  evident  that  Moses  makes  a  plain 
difference  between  God's  formation  of  man  and  brutes, 
for  he  makes  no  distinction  between  their  soul  and 
body  in  their  creation;  but  he  distinguishes  the  soul 
from  the  body  of  man,  in  his  creation,  speaking  ac- 
cording to  the  common  language  and  philosophy  of 
that  age  as  though  the  soul  were  in  the  breath'.  Nor 
was  jt  proper  to  speak  in  strict  philosophical  language 
to  those  ignorant  people;  nor  were  the  modes  of  ex- 
pression in  the  Bible  so  peculiarly  formed  to  teach 
us  philosophy  as  religion. 

But  of  this  distinction  between  the  *  soul  of  a  brute,' 
and  the  '  soul  of  a  man,'  there  seems  to  be  a  plain 
intimation  given  by  Solomon  in  the  book  of  Ecclesi- 


BECT.  IV,  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  61 

astes,  chap.  Hi.  21.  "Who  knovveth  the  spirit  of 
man  that  goeth  upward,  and  the  spirit  of  a  beast  that 
goeth  downward  to  the  earth?"  that  the  <  spirit  of 
man,'  i.  e.  his  conscious  and  intellectual  principle 
*  goeth  upward,'  or  survives  at  the  death  of  the  body, 
but  '  the  spirit  of  the  beast,'  i.  e.  the  spring  of  its  ani- 
mal life,  'goeth  down  to  the  earth,'  is  mingled  with 
the  common  elements  of  this  material  world  and  en- 
tirely lost. 

But  the  wise  man  in  this  place  perhaps  expresses 
some  of  his  former  atheistical  doubts,  saying,  *  who 
knows'  whether  there  is  any  difference  between  them? 
yet  it  intimates  thus  much,  that  men  who  pretended 
to  wisdom  in  that  age,  supposed  such  a  difference 
between  the  spirit  of  man  and  the  spirit  of  a  brute. 

Object,  11.  Is  taken  from  Psal.  vi.  5.  *'  In  death 
there  is  no  remembrance  of  thee;  in  the  grave  who 
shall  give  thee  thanks?"  and  Psal.  cxlvi.  4.  *' His 
breath  goeth  forth,  he  returneth  to  his  earth;  in  that 
very  day  his  thoughts  perish."  And  Eccles.  ix.  5. 
*'  The  living  know  that  they  shall  die,  but  the  dead 
know  not  any  thing."  From  all  which  words  some 
would  infer  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  Separate  State 
©f  souls. 

Answ,  Both  David  and  his  son  Solomon  exclude  all 
such  sort  of  thoughts  and  actions,  both  religious  and 
civil,  from  the  state  of  death  as  are  practised  in  this 
life,  all  the  pursuits  of  their  present  purposes,  their 
present  way  and  manner  of  divine  worship,  and  their 
management  or  consciousness  of  human  affairs :  But 
they  do  not  exclude  all  manner  of  consciousness, 

I 


62  ESSAV  towards  the  PROOr  OF  SECT.  sv. 

knowledge,  thought  or  action,  such  as  may  be  suited 
ta  the  invisible  state  of  spirits.  The  design  of  the 
writers  in  those  places  of  Scripture  requires  no  more 
than  this,  and  therefore  the  words  cannot  be  constru- 
ed to  any  farther  sense,  or  to  exclude  the  conscious 
and  active  powers  of  a  separate  spirit  from  their  pro- 
per exercise  in  that  invisible  world,  though  they  have 
done  with  all  their  actions  in  the  present  visible 
state. 

Object,  III.  Is  taken  from  John  xiv.  3.  ''If  I  go 
and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come  again  and  re- 
ceive you  to  myself,  that  where  I  am  there  ye  may 
be  also;"  which  seems  to  determine  the  point,  that 
the  followers  of  Christ  were  not  to  be  present  with 
him  until  he  came  again  to  this  world  to  raise  the 
dead,  and  to  take  his  disciples  to  dwell  with  him. 

Ansijj,  1.  It  hath  been  already  granted  by  some 
persons  who  doubt  of  the  Separate  State  of  all  souls, 
that  the  Apostles  had  this  special  favour  allowed  them 
to  be  received  into  the  presence  of  Christ  when  they 
departed  from  this  body:  Now  these  words  were 
spoken  to  the  Apostles,  and  therefore  they  cannot 
preclude  this  privilege  which  they  expected,  viz. 
that  when  they  were  *  absent  from  the  body'  they 
should  be  «  present  with  the  Lord,'  2  Cor.  v.  8. 

Ansiv,  2.  '  Christ  came  again'  to  his  disciples  at 
his  own  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  taught  them 
the  things  of  the  other  world,  and  better  prepared 
them  for  the  happiness  of  heaven  and  his  own  pre- 
sence: He  came  again  also  by  the  destruction  of  the 
Jewish  state,  and  called  his  own  people  thence  before- 


SECT.  IV.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  63 

hand,  as  an  emblem  of  their  salvation  when  the  world 
should  be  destroyed.  He  also  came  again  at  their 
death;  when  he  *  that  hath  the  keys  of  death  and  the 
invisible  world'  let  them  out  of  the  prison  of  the  bo- 
dy  into  the  Separate  State,  that  they  might  dwell  with 
him:  The  *  coming  of  Christ'  has  many  and  various 
senses  in  the  New  Testament,  and  need  not  be  rc^- 
ferred  only  to  his  *  coming  at  the  day  of  judgment.' 

Ansiv,  3.  But  suppose  in  this  place  the  words  of 
Christ  be  construed  concerning  his  '  great  and  public 
coming'  to  raise  the  dead  and  judge  the  world ;  it  is 
certain  that  in  that  day  the  disciples  shall  be  receiv- 
ed to  'dwell  with  him'  in  a  much  more  complete  and 
glorious  manner,  when  both  soul  and  body  shall  be 
made  the  inhabitants  of  heaven  :  But  this  does  not 
preclude  or  forbid  that  the  separate  souls  of  his  fol- 
lowers should  be  favoured  with  his  presence  in  para- 
dise before  his  public  coming  to  judge  the  world. 
Though  the  last  and  greatest  blessing  be  only  men- 
tioned here,  it  docs  not  exclude  the  former. 

Object.  IV.  St.  Paul  in  Phil.  iii.  10,  11.  says,  that 
he  desired  '*  to  know  Christ  and  the  power  of  his  re- 
surrection, (&c.)  if  by  any  means  he  might  attain  to 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead;"  Now  what  need  had 
the  Apostle  to  be  so  solicitous  about  the  resurrection 
if  he  expected  to  be  with  Christ  immediately  upon 
his  death,  since  being  with  Christ  is  the  state  of  ulti- 
mate happiness? 

Answ.  1.  Some  learned  men  suppose  that  the  Apos- 
tle here  presses  after  some  peculiar  exaltations  of 
piety  in  thi*  world,  and  after  an  interest  in  somcjirst 


64  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  IV. 

resurrection,  or  resurrection  of  the  martyrs  and  most 
eminent  saints,  which  would  be  long  before  the  gene- 
ral resurrection  of  all  the  dead,  according  to  the  visi- 
ons of  St.  John,  Rev.  xx.  4 — 7.  But  as  I  am  not 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  sense  of  that  prophecy 
to  determine  my  opinion  on  this  side,  I  proceed  to 
other  answers. 

Afisnv.  2,  What  if  the  words  of  St.  Paul  in  this 
place  to  the  Philipians,  should  mean  no  more  than 
this,  a^  ver.  13.  14,  **  I  forgot  the  things  that  are  be- 
hind," as  though  I  had  gained  so  little  already  as  not 
to  be  worth  my  notice ;  ''  and  I  reach  forth  unto  those 
things  which  are  before,"  i.  e.  further  degress  of  ho- 
liness to  be  obtained,  '  pressing  towards  the  mark'  of 
perfection,  '  if  by  any  means  I  might  be  made  so  con- 
formable to  the  death  Christ,'  as  to  be  entirely  dead 
to  sin,  and  *  if  by  any  means  I  might  attain  to  the  re- 
surrection of  the  dead,'  i.  e.  to  such  a  perfection  of 
holiness  as  is  represented  by  the  resurrection  of 
Christ,  Rom.  vi.  or  as  that  in  which  tKe  *  dead  saints 
shall  be  raised;'  for  I  know  *  I  have  not  already  at- 
tained it,  nor  am  already  perfect.' 

Answ,  3.  Suppose  the  soul  of  St.  Paul  to  be  pre- 
sent  with  Christ  after  death  in  heaven  in  the  Separate 
State,  yet  this  is  not  the  ultimate  or  highest '  happiness 
of  the  saints,'  and  therefore  he  aimed  at  something 
higher  and  further,  namely,  the  more  complete  happi- 
ness which  he  should  enjoy  at  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead. 

Object,  V.  Is  borrowed  from  several  verses  of  1 
Cor.  XV.   where  the  Apostle  is  imagined  to  argue 


SECT.  IV.  A  SEPARATE  STATE..  65 

thus,  *'  If  there  be  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,"  ver. 
18.  *'  Then  they  which  are  flUlen  asleep  in  Christ 
are  perished,"  ver.  19.  *'  Then  we  have  hope  only 
in  this  life,"  and  nothing  else  to  support  us.  Then 
ver.  32.  **  What  advantage"  do  I  get  by  all  my  suffer- 
ings for  Christ,  if  the  dead  rise  not  ?  We  had  better 
comply  with  the  appetites  of  the  flesh  and  enjoy  a 
merry  life  here,  **  Let  us  cat  and  drink  for  to-morrow 
we  die;"  whereby  it  is  evident  that  the  Apostle 
places  the  blessed  expectation  *  of  those  that  are  fallen 
asleep  in  Christ'  only  and  entirely  upon  their  being 
*  raised  from  the  deed,'  which  he  would  not  have 
done  if  there  had  been  such  a  Separate  State:  he  ex- 
tends *  our  hope  in  Christ'  beyond  this  life,  and 
raises  his  own  expectation  oi achantage  or  reward  for 
his  sufferings  on  the  account  of  the  gospel  entirely 
and  only  upon  the  *  resurrection  of  the  dead,'  having 
no  notion  of  any  happiness  in  a  Separate  State- of 
souls:  for  if  he  had  any  such  opinion  or  hope,  this 
expectation  of  the  happiness  of  the  soul  in  a  Separate 
State  might  have  been  a  sufficient  proof  that  those 
who  died  or  slept  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  are  '  not  per- 
ished,' and  he  had  abundant  reward  for  his  sufferings 
in  that  world  oS.  separate  souls  without  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body. 

Jinsvj,  1.  It  must  be  granted  that  the  Scripture,  in 
order  to  support  Christians  under  present  trials, 
chiefly  refers  them  to  the  day  of  the  resurrection  and 
final  judgment,  as  the  great  and  chief  season  of  re- 
tribution: the  reason  of  this  will  appear  under  my 
answer  to  a  follow ing  objection:  Now  the  Apostle 
may  be  supposed  to  argue  here  only  on  this  foot,  ne- 


66  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOT  OF  SECT.  IT. 

glecting  or  overlooking  the  Separate  State,  as  though 
this  final  retribution  at  and  after  the  resurrection  of 
the  body  were  comparatively  the  whole,  because  it  is 
far  the  chief  and  most  considerable  part,  being  much 
the  most  sensible,  and  conspicuous,  and  of  the  long- 
est duration.  The  chief  part  of  any  thing  is  often 
taken  for  the  whole ;  and  if  there  were  no  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead,  i.  e.  if  there  were  no  state  of  retri- 
bution at  all,  then  the  Epicurean  reasoning  would 
be  good,  '  Let  us  eat  and  drink  for  to-morrow  vvc 
die.' 

And,  to  confirm  this  exposition,  we  may  take  no- 
tice, that  in  other  places  of  Scripture,  where  the  '  re- 
surrection of  the  dead'  is  mentioned,  this  anastasis 
includes  the  whole  state  of  existence  after  death,  both 
the  Separate  and  the  resurrection  State:  This  seems 
to  be  the  sense  of  it  in  that  famous  place,  Luke  xx, 
S5.  Where  Christ  argues  with  the  Sadducees,  who 
denied  the  Separate  State  as  well  as  the  resurrection 
of  the  body :  Now  if  you  take  away  this  anastasis, 
this  whole  state  of  existcrxe  and  retribution,  then 
ihey  that  suffer  for  Christ  have  no  advantage  or  re- 
compence,  and  the  Epicurean  doctrine  is  plainly  pre- 
ferable,  at  least  in  the  common  sense  and  reasoning 
of  men,  and  in  such  seasons  of  trial  and  persecution. 

Nor  is  it  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  there  might 
be  some  of  these  principles  of  Sadducism  begun  to 
be  instilled  into  some  of  the  Corinthians,  viz.  that 
there  were jio  rewards  and  punishments  at  all  in  any 
future  state;  for  he  tells  them,  ver.  54.  that  some  of 
them  *  had  not  the  knowledge  of  God,'  i.  e.  as  a  right- 
eous rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him,  *'  I 


^       SECT.  IV.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  f,7 

speak  this,"  says  he,  <*to  your  shame."  And  vcr. 
5,  8.  he  encourages  them  to  be  *'  stedfast  and  unmov- 
able,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  for 
as  much  as  ye  know  that  your  labour  is  not  in  vain 
in  the  Lord;"  i.  e.  there  is  certainly  a  future  state 
of  recompence  for  piety,  and  the  discovery  of  it  at 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead  is  the  most  public  and 
glorious  part  of  it,  and  therefore  he  insists  upon  this 
alone. 

A?isiv,  2.  But  we  may  give  yet  a  more  particular 
answer  to  this  objection:  for  if  we  take  in  the  whole 
scheme  of  the  Apostle's  argument  in  this  chapter,  we 
shall  find  there  is  no  sufficient  ground  for  this  objec- 
tion  against  a  Separate  State.  He  begins,  ver.  12, 
13,  &c.  and  argues  thus,  "If  there  be  no  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead,  then  Christ  is  not  risen,"  for  he  rose 
as  the Jirst fruits,  and  his  followers  shall  be  the  har- 
vest, ver.  23.  but  if  there  be  no  harvest  there  were 
no  first-fruits  :  and  *^  if  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  our 
preaching  is  vain,  and  your  faith  is  vain;"  ver.  14. 
*'Then  we  are  found  false  witnesses  in  matters  that 
relate  to  God,"  ver.  15.  mere  impostors,  who  preach 
a  wicked  falsehood,  and  lead  you  to  hope  for  a  hap- 
piness which  ye  shall  never  obtain:  for  *'  if  Christ, 
who  died  for  our  sins,"  ver.  3.  '*  be  not  raised  for 
our  justification,"  as  in  Rom.  iv.  ult.  "then  are  ye 
yet  in  your  sins,"  ye  lie  yet  under  the  guilt  of  sin  ; 
and  if  so,  "  then  also  they  which  have  fallen  asleep  in 
Christ,"  or  have  died  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  vlvg perish- 
ed, ver.  18.  they  must  either  be  condemned,  or  be 
utterly  lost  both  soul  and  body,  having  no  ground  for 


68  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF     SECT.  IV. 

hope  of  eternal  life,  or  any  life  or  happiness  at  all 
hereafter.  Then  '  the  hope  of  Christians  would  be 
in  this  life  only,'  and  we  are  '  miserable  creatures' 
who  suffer  so  much  for  Christ's  sake,  ver.  19.  It 
would  be  better  for  us  who  have  senses  and  appe- 
tites as  well  as  other  men,  to  indulge  these  senses 
and  appetites,  and  'eat  and  drink  for  to-morrow  we 
die,'  and  there  is  an  end  of  us :  There  can  be  no  fu- 
ture state  of  happiness  of  any  kind  for  us  to  expect, 
either  in  soul  or  body,  if  we  have  deceived  you  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  all  our 
gospel  be  false :  We  are  then  such  sort  of  impostors 
and  wicked  cheats  as  can  have  no  belief  of  a  future 
state  of  rewards  or  punishments,  and  we  had  better 
act  like  ourselves,  and  like  mere  Epicureans,  give 
ourselves  up  to  all  present  pleasures  than  expose  our- 
selves to  perpetual  sufferings  for  the  sake  of  a  man, 
who  (if  there  be  no  resurrection)  died  and  never  rose 
again,  and  therefore  cannot  make  us  any  recompence. 
Now  this  sort  of  arguing  does  not  at  all  preclude  the 
Separate  State  of  happiness,  but  rather  establish  it. 
I  might  add  here  a  further  answer  to  this  objectiofi^ 
viz.  the  Apostle  is  representing  the  *  sufferings  of  the 
body'  for  Christ's  sake,  ver.  30,  31,  32.  and  there- 
fore he  thinks  it  proper  to  encourage  Christians  with 
the  recompence  of  the  *  resurrection  of  the  body,' 
without  taking  any  particular  notice  of  the  happiness 
of  the  Separate  Scate  of  the  soul:  and  in  this  view  of 
things  his  argua^.ent  stands  good.  If  there  be  no  re- 
surrection of  the  body,  there  is  no  recompence  for 
sufferings  ia  the  body;    let  us  then  give  the  body  its 


SECT.  IV.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  59 

pleasures  of  sense;  *  Let  us  eat  and  drink'  while  we 
live,  for  there  is  an  utter  end  of  us  in  death.  But  (^aith 
he,  ver.  33,)  such  '  evil  traditions  corrupt  all  good 
manners,'  and  therefore  they  are  not,  the}'  canncjt  be 
true :  There  must  be  a  resurrection  of  the  body  to 
encourage  sufferings  in  the  body  for  the  sake  of  vir- 
tue and  religion.* 

Object.  VI.  Doth  not  the  New  Testament  con- 
stantly refer  the  rewards  and  punishments  of  good 
and  bad  men  to  the  time  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  or  the  second  coming  of  Christ?  Is  it  not  with 
this  prospect  it  terrifies  the  sinner?  Is  it  not  with 
this  it  Comforts  the  good  man,  and  supports  him  un- 
der his  present  sufferings?  It  would  be  endless  to  cite 
all  the  particular  texts  on  this  occasion.  That  one 
text  1  Thess.  iv.  14.  speaks  the  sense  of  many 
others,  and  is  sufficient  to  be  cited  here.  The  Apos- 
tle persuades  Christians  not  to  *'  mourn  for  the  dead 

♦  There  are  several  pages  of  just  and  pertinent  answers  to  this  objec- 
tion  by   my   learned    and   ingenious    friend   Mr.    Henry    Grove,   in  his 

*  Thoughts  concerning  the  Proof  of  a  Future  State  from  Reason,'  which 
confirm  the  replies  I  have  here  made,  '  Then  they,'  saith  he,  '  who 
are  fallen  asleep  in  Christ  (by  whom  the  martyrs  seem  to  be  more  especi- 
ally intended)  are  perished,  for  any  thing  that  Christ  can  do  for  them, 
who  will  never  reward  them  for  their  sufferings,  never  restore  that  life 
which  they  lost  for  his  sake.'  And  particularly  his  exposition  on  those 
words,  '  we  are  most  miserable  of  all  men,'  is  very  agreeable  to  the-  place. 

*  The  Greek  iymyonfot  i^ignifies  that  we  are  '  more  to  be  pitied'  than 
any  men,  as  wanting  the  common  understanding  of  men  to  suffer  death 
for  Christ's  sake,  who  would  never  be  able  to  recompence  us  for  it,  if  he 
be  not  risen  from  the  dead.  And  it  is  (saith  he  a  little  afterward)  for 
want  of  observing  the  intermediate  links  of  the  Aposrle's  argument 
(which  he  there  represents),  that  some  have  been  at  a  loss  for  his  mean- 
ing, while  others  have  quite  mistaken  it.'     See  p.  124,  &.c. 

K 


;0  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  IV» 

as  those  that  sorrow  without  hope,"  and  gives  this 
reason,  "  for  those  who  sleep  in  Jesus,  God  will  bring 
with  him,"  when  he  comes  to  raise  the  dead,  and 
then  *  they  shall  be  for  ever  with  the  Lord ;'  and  he 
bids  them  *  comfort  one  another  with  these  words:* 
Whereas  their  comforts  had  been  much  nearer  at 
hand  if  he  could  have  told  them  of  the  Separate  State 
of  happiness  which  the  departed  souls  of  their  friends 
at  present  enjoyed ;  and  if  there  had  been  any  such 
state  he  had  the  fairest  opportunity  here  to  introduce 
it. 

Answ.  This  very  text  I  have  mentioned  before  as  a 
proof  of  the  Separate  State,  and  it  is  plain  the  Apos- 
tle seems  to  hint  it,  though  he  doth  not  insist  upori 
it,  when  he  supposes  the  soul  of  the  deceased  to  be 
with  Christ  already;  for  he  saith,  "  God  will  brings 
them  with  him,"  i.  e.  from  heaven  when  he  comes 
to  raise  their  bodies. 

But  to  give  a  more  general  answer  to  the  objection, 
as  drawn  from  the  silence  of  Scripture,''  in  many- 
places,  about  this  doctrine  of  the  Separate  State. 

There  are  good  reasons  why  the  New  Testament 
more  sparingly  mentions  the  Separate  State  of  souls, 
and  doth  most  frequently  (but  not  constantly)  refer 
both  rewards  and  punishments  to  the  resurrection. 

(1.)  Because  the  Heathens  themselves  (at  least  the 
wisest  and  best  of  them)  did  believe  some  sort  of  fu» 
ture  state  of  happiness  or  misery,  into  which  the  souls 
of  men  should  be  disposed  when  they  departed  from 
these  bodies,  according  to  the  vices  or  virtues  they 
had  practised  in  this  life  ;   and  they  derived  this  dec- 


SECT.  IV.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  71 

trine  from  their  reasonings  upon  the  foot  of  the  light 
of  nature.  The  writings  of  Plato  and  his  followers, 
and  the  sentiments  of  Socrates  conveyed  to  us  in 
Plato^s  writings,  are  full  of  this  opinion,  viz.  of  the 
existence  of  the  souls  of  good  men  in  a  happy  state, 
when  they  depart  from  the  body.  Cicero  sometimesi 
speaks  of  it  as  his  opinion,  his  desire  and  his  hope, 
nor  were  other  heathen  writers  ignorant  of  this  doc- 
trine ;  but  the  New  Testament  speaks  less  of  this 
point,  because  it  is  the  evident  design  of  Christ  and 
his  Apostles  to  lead  their  disciples  to  the  more  *  pecu- 
liar doctrines  of  revelation,^  rather  than  to  treat  them 
with  sentiments  derived  from  the  light  of  nature  ; 
And  this  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead, 
and  the  eternal  rewards  and  eternal  punishments  that 
attend  it,  are  more  abundantly  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament,  because  they  stand  so  much  more  con- 
nected with  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  with  his  own 
resurrection  from  the  dead,  which  is  the  chief  evi- 
dence of  its  divine  authority.  It  is  Christ  who  rose 
from  the  dead,  who  is  appointed  to  raise  and  to  judge 
all  mankind  ;  and  therefore  it  is  natural  for  the  Apos- 
tles in  their  writings,  who  desire  to  keep  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  Christ  always  in  tlie  view  of  their 
convertaif  to  point  to  the  awful  events  of  that  day, 
when  their  Saviour,  risen  from  the  dead,  shall  appear 
in  the  execution  of  his  glorious  ct^mmission  and 
judge  the  world.  Thus  St.  Paul  preaches  to  the 
Athenians,  Acts  xvii.  30.  ''God  now  commands  all 
men  every  where  to  repent,  because  he  hath  apjH)int- 
ed  a  day  in  which  he  will  judge  the  woild  in  righte- 


72  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF   OF  SECT.  IV. 

ousness,  by  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordained;  where- 
of he  hath  given  assurance  to  all  men,  in  that  he  hath 
raised  him  from  the  dead."  And  in  many  other 
places  he  connects  our  resurrection  and  future  re- 
compences  with  the  resurrection  of  Christ. 

And  in  this  respect,  as  well  as  in  some  others,  the 
doctrine  of  rewards  and  punishments  after  the  resur- 
rection, seems  to  carry  such  superior  force  in  it, 
especially  upon  those  who  believe  the  gospel,  that  it 
is  no  wonder  the  New  Testament  more  frequently 
refers  to  this  great  day  of  resurrection,  and  the  Apos- 
tle derives  the  chief  part  of  his  consolations  or  ter- 
rors from  it. 

(2.)  Then  will  be  the  *  public  and  universal  re- 
tributions' of  vice  and  virtue  in  a  more  solemn  man- 
ner exhibited  before  all  the  world,  whereas  the  en- 
trance of  mankind  into  the  recompences  of  the  Sepa- 
rate State  is  more  private  and  personal. 

(3.)  Then  wdll  be  the  day  of '  complete  rewards  and 
punishments'  of  man  in  both  parts  of  his  nature,  soul 
and  body  :  All  the  Separate  State  belongs  only  to 
the  soul,  and  even  those  recompences  are  but  im- 
perfect before  in  comparison  of  what  they  will  be 
when  body  and  soul  are  united. 

(4.)  Then  will  be  the  most  glorious  visible  and  sen- 
sible distinction  made  between  the  good  and  bad  ; 
and  since  this  belongs  to  the  body  as  well  as  the 
soul,  it  is  very  properly  set  before  the  eyes  of  men 
in  the  holy  writings  as  done  at  the  resurrection  ;  be- 
cause corporeal  and  sensible  things  work  more  pow- 
erfully on  their  imagination,  and  more  sensibly  and 


SECT.  IV.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  73 

effectually  strike  the  consciences  of  men,  than  the 
notion  of  mere  spiritual  rewards  and  punishments  in 
the  Separate  State. 

(5.)  The  state  of  rewards  and  punishments  after 
the  resurrection,  will  be  far  the  longest  and  most  du- 
rable recompence  of  the  good  and  the  bad  :  And 
thei-efore  it  is  called  eternal  so  often  in  Scripture  ; 
ever/cisting  life,  and  everlasting  fire  ^  Matth.  xxv.  41. 
Whereas  the  retributions  of  the  Separate  State  are 
comparatively  but  of  short  duration  ;  and  this  is  an- 
other  thii.er  that  makes  a  sensible  impression  on  the 
hearts  of  men,  viz.  the  *  eternal  continuance'  of  the 
joys  \i\\d  sorrows  that  follow  the  last  judgment. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  replied  here,  that  in  the  begin- 
ning of  this  essay  I  represented  the  Separate  State 
as  a  *  more  effectual  motive'  to  the  hopes  and  fears 
of  men,  because  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  it  were  so 
much  *  nearer  at  hand'  than  those  of  the  resurrec- 
tion :  And  why  do  I  now  represent  the  recomj^ences 
of  the  resurrection  under  such  characters  as  are  fit  to 
have  the  strongest  influence,  and  become  the  most 
effectual  moti^ue  ? 

ylnsw.  It  is  granted,  that  the  recompences  after  the 
resurrection  have  several  circumstances  that  carry 
with  them  some  peculiar  and  most  powerful  motives 
to  religion  and  virtue;  but  that  awful  day  may  still 
seem  to  want  this  one  motive,  viz.  '  the  nearness  of 
it,'  which  belongs  eminently  to  the  recompences  of 
the  Separate  State.  Now,  if  the  Scripture  does 
really  reveal  the  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punishments 
of  souls  immediately  after  death,   and  of  soul  and 


74  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  IV. 

body  together  at  the  resurrection,  then  all  those  cir- 
cumstances of  efFeciual  motive  to  piety  are  collected 
in  our  doctrine,  viz.  the  *  immediate  nearness  of  them' 
in  the  Separate  State,  and  the  public  appearance,  the 
unhersality^  the  completeness,  the  sensibility,  and  the 
duration  of  them  after  the  great  rising-day. 

I  might  yet  take  occasion,  from  this  objection,  to 
give  a  further  i^ason,  why  the  Apostles  more  fre- 
quently draw  their  motives  of  hope  and  fear  from  the 
resurrection  and  the  great  judgment,  i.  e.  that  even 
that  day  of  recompence  was  generally  then  supposed 
to  be  *  near  at  hand^'  and  so  there  was  less  need  to 
insist  upon  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  the  Separate 
State. 

As  the  patriarchs  and  the  Jews  of  old,  after  the 
Messiah  was  promised,  were  constantly  expecting 
\i\'^  first  coming,  almost  in  every  generation  till. he  did 
appear,  and  many  modes  of  prophetical  expression 
in  Scripture  (^Ahich  speak  of  things  long  to  come,  as 
though  they  were  present  or  just  at  hand)  gave  them 
some  occasion  for  this  expection,  so  the  Christians 
of  the  first  age  did  generally  expect  *  the  second  com- 
ing'of  Christ  to  judgment,  and  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead,  in  that  very  age  wherein  it  was  foretold. 
St.  Paul  gives  us  a  hint  of  it  in  2  Thess.  ii.  1,  2. 
They  supposed  the  *  day  of  the  Lord  was  just  appear- 
ing.' And  many  expressions  of  Christ  concerning 
his  return  or  coming  again  after  his  departure,  seem- 
ed to  represent  his  absence  as  a  thing  of  no  long  con- 
tinuance. It  is  true,  these  words  of  his  may  partly 
refer  to  his  coming  to  destroy   Jerusalem;    and  the 


SECT.   IV.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  75 

coming  in  of  his  kingdom  among  the  Gentiles,  or  his 
coming  by  his  messenger  of  death,  yet  they  gene- 
rally, in  their  supreme  and  final,  sense,  point  to  his 
coming  to  raise  the  dead  and  judge  the  world:  And 
from  the  words  of  Christ  also  concerning  John,  chap, 
xxi.  22.  **  If  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I  come ;"  it  is 
probable  that  the  Apostles  themselves  at  first,  as  well 
as  other  Christians,  might  derive  this  apprehension  of 
his  speedy  coming. 

It  is  certain,  that  when  Christ  speaks  of  his  com- 
ing,  in  general  and  promiscuous  and  parabolical 
terms,  whether  with  regard  to  the  destruction  of  Je- 
rusalem or  the  judgment  of  the  world,  he  saith, 
Matth.  xxiv.  34.  ''  Yerily  I  say  unto  you,  this  gene- 
ration shall  not  pass  till  all  these  things  be  fulfilled." 
And  the  Apostles  frequently  told  the  world,  the  com- 
ing of  the  Lord  was  near,  Phil.  iv.  5.  '*  The  Lord  is 
at  hand,"  Heb.  x.  25.  '*  Exhorting  one  another,  so 
much  the  more  as  you  see  the  day  approaching." 
And  that  this  is  the  day  of  the  **  coming  of  Christ." 
ver.  37.  assures  us,  ''  For  yet  a  little  while,  he  that 
shall  come  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry."  Rom.  xiii. 
12.  *'Now  it  is  high  time  to  awake  out  of  sleep.. 
The  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at  hand."  1  Pet. 
iv.  5.  "  To  him  who  is  ready  to  judge  the  quick  and 
the  dead."  Ver.  7.  *'The  end  of  all  things  is  at 
hand.'*  James  v.  8,  9.  ''  The  coming  of  the  Lord 
draweth  nigh.  Behold  the  judge  standeth  at  the 
door."  Rev.  xxii.  10.  *'  Seal  not  up  the  prophecy  of 
this  book,  for  the  time  is  at  hand."  Ver.  12.  *'  And 
behold  I  come  quickly,   and  my  reward  is  with  me. 


76  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  IV. 

to  give  to  every  man  as  his  work  shall  be:"  And 
the  sacred  volume  is  closed  with  this  assurance,  ver. 
20.  '*  Surely  I  come  quickly,"  and  the  echo  and  the 
expectation  of  the  Apostle  or  the  church,  Amen. 
Ei^en  SO;  come  Lord  Jesus, 

It  is  granted,  that  in  prophetical  expressions,  such 
as  all  these  are,  some  obscurit}'  is  aliovved :  And  it 
may  be  doubtful,  perhaps,  whether  some  of  them 
may  refer  to  Christ's  coming  by  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  or  his  coming  to  call  particular  persons 
away  by  his  messenger  of  death,  or  his  appearance 
to  the  last  judgment.  It  is  granted  also,  it  belongs 
to  prophetical  language  to  set  things  far  distant,  as  it 
were,  before  our  eyes,  and  mafoe  them  seem  present 
or  very  near  at  hand.  But  still  these  expressions 
had  plainly  such  an  influence  on  primitive  Christians, 
as  that  they  imagined  the  day  of  resurrection  and 
judgment  was  very  near:  And,  since  the  prophetical 
words  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles  seemed  to  carry 
this  appearance  in  them,  and  to  keep  the  church  un- 
der some  uncertainty,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  Apos- 
tles chiefly  referred  the  disciples  of  that  age  to  the 
day  of  the  resurrection  for  comfort  under  their  suf- 
ferings and  sorrows  :  And,  though  they  never  assert- 
ed that  Christ  would  come  to  raise  the  dead  and 
judge  the  world  in  that  age,  yet,  when  they  knew 
themselves  that  he  would  not  come  so  soon,  they 
might  not  think  it  necessary  to  give  every  Christian, 
nor  every  church,  an  immediate  account  of  the  more 
distant  time  of  this  great  event,  that  the  uncertainty 
of  it  might  keep   them   ever  watchful:  And  even 


SECT.  IV.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  *^>^ 

when  St.  Paul  informs  the  Thessalonians  that  tlie 
day  of  the  Lord  was  not  so  very  near  as  they  imagin- 
ed it,  2  Thess.  ii.  2.  yet  he  does  not  put  it  off  be- 
yond that  century  by  any  express  language. 

Thus  we  see  there  is  very  good  reason  why  the 
•New  Testament  should  derive  its  motives  of  terror 
and  comfort  chiefly  from  the  resurrection  and  the  '  day 
of  judgment;'  though  it  is  not  altogether  silent  of 
the  Separate  State  of  souls,  and  their  happiness  or 
misery,  commencing,  in  some  measure,  immediately 
after  death,  which  has  been  before  proved  by  many 
Scriptures  cited  for  that  purpose. 

Here  let  it  be  observed,  that  I  am  not  concerned  in 
that  question,  Whether  human  souls  separated  from 
their  bodies  have  any  other  corporeal  vehicle  to  which 
they  are  united,  or  by  which  they  act  during  the  in- 
termediate state  between  death  and  the  resurrection? 
All  that  I  propose  to  maintain  here,  is,  that  that  peri- 
od or  interval  is  not  a  state  of  sleep,  i.  e.  utter  un- 
consciousness and  unactivity :  And,  whether  it  be 
united  to  a  vehicle  or  no,  I  call  it  still  the  Separate 
State,  because  it  is  a  state  of  the  soul's  separation 
from  this  body,  which  is  united  to  it  in  the  present 
life. 


78  ESSAY  TOWARDS  TIIL  PROOF  OF  SECT.  V 


SECTION  V. 

Alore  Objections  ansivercd. 

SINCE  this  book  was  written  I  have  met  withsc 
veral  other  objections  against  the  doctrine  here  main- 
tained J  and,  as  I  think  they  may  all  have  a  sufficient 
answer  given  to  them,  and  the  truth  be  defended 
against  the  force  of  them,  I  thought  it  very  proper 
to  lead  the  reader  into  a  plain  and  easy  solution  of 
them. 

Object.  VII.  Is  not  long  life  represented  often  in 
Scripture,  and  especially  in  the  Old  Testament,  as  a 
blessing  to  man?  And,  is  not  death  set  before  us  as 
a  curse  or  punishment?  But,  how  can  either  of  these 
representations  be  just  or  true,  if  souls  exist  in  a  Se- 
parate State?  Are  they  not  then  brought  into  a  state 
of  liberty  by  death,  and  freed  from  all  the  inconveni- 
ences of  this  flesh  and  blood  ?  By  this  means  death 
ceases  to  be  a  punishment,  and  long  life  to  be  a 
blessing. 

Answ.  It  is  according  as  the  characters  of  men 
are  either  good  or  bad,  and  according  as  good  men 
know  more  or  less  of  a  Separate  State  of  rewards  or 
punishments,  so  a  long  life,  or  early  death,  are  to  be 
esteemed  blessings  or  calamities  in  a  greater  or  a  less 
degree. 

Long  life  was  represented  as  a  blessing  to  good 
men,  in  as  much  as  it  gave  them  opportunity  to  en- 
joy more  of  the  blessings  of  this  life,  and  to  do  more 


SFXT.   V.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  79 

service  for  God  in  the  world:  And  especially  since, 
in  ancient  times,  there  was  much  darkness  upon  this 
doctrine  of  the  future  state,  and  many  good  men  had 
not  so  clear  a  knowledge  of  it.  Long  life  was  also 
a  blessing  to  wicked  men,  because  it  kept  them  in 
a  state  wherein  there  were  some  comforts,  and  with- 
held them,  for  a  season,  from  the  punishments  of  the 
Separate  Statp. 

Death  was  doubtless  a  punishment  and  a  curse 
when  it  was  first  brought  into  human  nature  by  the 
sin  of  Adam,  as  it  cut  oft'  mankind  from  the  blessings 
of  this  life,  and  plunged  him  into  a  dark  and  unknown 
state:  And  if  he  were  a  wicked  man,  it  plunged  him 
into  certain  misery. 

But,  since  the  blessings  of  the  future  state  of  hap- 
piness for  good  men  are  more  clearly  revealed,  long 
life  is  not  so  very  great  a  blessing,  nor  death  so  great 
a  punishment  to  good  men ;  for  death  is  sanctified 
by  the  covenant  of  grace  to  be  an  introduction  of 
their  souls  into  the  Separate  State  of  happiness,  and 
the  curse  is  turned  in  some  respect  into  a  blessing. 
Object.  VIII.  Was  it  not  supposed  to  be  a  great 
privilege  to  P2noch  and  Elijah  when  they  were  trans- 
lated without  dying?  But,  what  advantage  could  it 
be  to  either  of  them  to  carry  a  body  with  them  to  hea- 
ven, if  their  souls  could  act  without  it? 

I  answer,  when  Enoch  and  Elijah  carried  their  bo- 
dies to  heaven  with  them,  it  was  certainly  a  sublime 
honour  and  a  peculiar  privilege  which  they  enjoyed, 
to  have  so  early  an  happiness  both  in  fiesh  and  spirit 
conferred  upon  them  so  many  ages  before  the  rest  of 


80  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  V. 

mankind:  For  though  the  soul  can  act  v/ithout  the 
body,  yet  as  a  body  is  part  of  the  compounded  na- 
ture of  man,  our  happiness  is  not  designed  to  be  coni- 
plete  till  the  soul  and  body  are  united  in  a  state  of 
perfection  and  glory:  And  this  happiness  was  con- 
ferred early  on  those  two  favourites  of  heaven. 

Object.  IX.  Was  it  not  designed  as  a  favour  when 
persons  were  raised  from  the  dead  under  the  Old  Tes- 
tament or  the  New,  by  the  Prophets,  by  Christ,  and 
by  his  Apostles?  But  what  benefit  could  this  be^to 
them,  if  they  had  consciousness  and  enjoyment  in  the 
other  world?  Was  it  not  rather  an  injury  to  bring 
them  back  from  a  state  of  happiness  into  such  a  mise- 
rable world  as  this  ? 

Jrisiv,  1.  Since  these  souls  were  designed  to  be  soon 
restored  to  their  bodies,  and  the  persons  were  to  be 
raised  to  a  mortal  life  again  in  a  few  days,  it  is  pro- 
bable they  were  kept  just  in  the  same  state  of  imme- 
morial consciousness,  as  the  soul  is  in  while  the 
body  is  in  the  deepest  sleep;  and  so  were  not  immedi- 
ately sent  to  heaven  or  hell,  or  determined  to  a  state 
of  sensible  happiness  or  misery.  Then  when  the 
person  was  raised  to  life  again,  there  was  no  remem- 
brance of  the  intermediate  state,  but  all  the  consci- 
ousness of  that  day  or  two  vanished  and  were  forgot- 
ten for  ever,  as  it  is  with  us  when  we  sleep  soundly 
without  dreaming. 

Ansvc.  2.  If  those  who  .were  raised  by  Christ,  or 
the  Prophets,  or  the  Apostles,  were  pious  persons, 
they  submitted  by  the  will  of  God  to  a  longer  con- 
tinuance in  this  world,   amidst  some  difficulties  and 


SECT.  V,  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  81 

sorrows,  which  submission  would  be  abundantly  re- 
compeiiccd  hereafter.  If  they  were  not  good  per- 
sons, their  renewed  life  on  earth  was  a  reprieve  from 
punishment.  So  there  was  no  injury  done  to  any  of 
them. 

As  for  those  who  were  '  raised  at  the  resurrection 
of  Christ.' and  were  'seen  by  many  persons  in  the 
holy  city,'  there  is  no  doubt  but  they  were  raised  to 
immortality,  and  ascended  to  heaven  when  Christ  did, 
as  ^art  of  his  triumphant  attendants,  and  went  to 
dwell  with  him  In  the  heavenly  state. 

Object,  X.  If  the  martyrs  and  confessors  were  to  be 
partakers  of  the  first  resurrection  in  Rev.  xx.  4,  5. 
would  not  this  be  a  punishment  instead  of  a  blessing, 
to  be  called  from  the  immediate  presence  of  God  and 
Christ  and  angels,  to  be  re-united  to  bodies  on 
earth  and  dwell  here  again  with  men?  Therefore  it 
seems  more  probable,  that  the  souls  of  these  holy 
martyrs  had  no^uch  separate  existence  or  enjoyment 
of  happiness. 

Ans\\).  Perhaps  neither  that  text  nor  any  others  in 
the  Bible  foretell  the  resurrection  of  any  number  of 
persons  to  an  animal  earthly  life  again  in  this  world: 
Perhaps  that  prophecy  means  no  more,  than  that  the 
cause  of  Christ  and  religion,  for  which  men  were 
martyred  and  beheaded  heretofore,  shall  rise  again  in 
the  world,  and  the  professors  of  it  in  that  day  shall 
be  in  flourishing  circumstances  for  a  thousand  years, 
or  a  very  long  season :  So  that  in  prophetic  language 
these  words  do  not  signifv  the  same  i'.ulividual  mar- 


82  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  V. 

tyrs  or  confessors,  but  their  successors  in  the  same 
faith  and  practice. 

Or  if  there  should  be  any  resurrection  of  good  men 
to  an  animal  life  in  this  world,  foretold  by  the  pro- 
phets, and  intended  by  the  great  and  blessed  God,  I 
doubt  not  but  they  would  be  here  so  far  separated 
from  the  wicked  world  where  sins  and  sorrows  reign, 
that  it  would  be  a  gradual  advance  of  their  happi- 
ness beyond  what  they  enjoyed  before  in  the  Sepa- 
rate State. 

Object.  XI.  Though  man  is  often  said  to  be  a  com-  \ 
pounded  creature  of  soul  and  body,  yet  in  Scripture 
he  is  represented  as  one  being:  It  is  the  man  that  is 
born,  that  lives,  that  sleeps  or  wakes,  and  that  rises 
from  the  dead.  This  is  evident  in  many  places  of 
Scripture,  where  these  things  are  spoken  of;  and  it 
seems  to  be  the  law  of  our  nature  or  being,  that  we 
should  always  act  and  live  in  such  a  state  as  souls 
united  to  bodies,  and  never  in  a  state  of  separation. 

Jnsw.  Though  there  arc  several  Scriptures  which 
represent  man  as  one  being,  viz.  soul  and  body  unit- 
ed, yet  there  are  many  other  Scriptures  which  have 
been  cited  in  the  former  parts  of  this  essay,  wherein 
the  souls  and  the  bodies  of  men  are  represented  as 
two  very  distinct  things:  The  one  goes  to  the  grave 
at  death,  and  the  other  either  into  Abraham's  bosom, 
or  to  a  place  of  torment ;  either  to  dwell  ^  with  God,' 
to  '  be  present  with  Christ  the  Lord,'  and  to  become 
one  of  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  or  to  go 
to  their  own  place  as  Judas  did.  Now  those  texts 
where  man  is  represented  as  one  being,  may  be  ex- 


SECT.  V.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  83 

plained  with  very  great  ease,  considering  man  as 
made  up  of  two  distinct  substances,  viz.  body  and 
spirit  united  into  one  personal  agent,  as  we  have 
shewn  before :  But  the  several  texts  where  the  soul 
and  body  are  so  strongly  and  plainly  distinguished, 
as  has  been  before  represented,  there  is  no  possible 
way  of  representing  these  Soriptures  but  by  suppos- 
ing a  Separate  State  of  existence  for  souls  after  the 
body  is  dead,  which  makes  it  necessary  that  this  ex- 
position should  take  place. 

Object,  XII.  How  comes  death  to  be  called  so  often 
in  Scripture  2i  sleeps  if  the  soul  wakes  all  the  while? 

Ansiv.  Why  is  the  repose  of  man  every  night  call- 
ed sleep,  since  the  soul  wakes,  as  appears  by  a  thou- 
sand dreams?  But  as  a  sleeping  man  ceases  to  act  in 
the  businesses  or  affairs  of  this  world,  though  the  soul 
be  not  dead  or  unthinking,  so  death  is  called  sleep, 
because  during  that  state  men  are  cut  off  from  the 
businesses  of  this  world,  though  the  soul  may  think 
and  act  in  another. 

Object,  XIII.  The  Scripture  speaks  often  of  the 
general  judgment  of  mankind  at  the  last  great  day  of 
the  resurrection,  but  it  does  not  teach  us  the  doctrine 
o^  2l  particular  judgment,  which  the  soul  is  supposed 
to  pass  under  when  every  single  man  dies;  why  then 
should  we  invent  such  a  supposition,  or  believe  such 
a  doctrine  of  a  particular  judgment  in  a  Separate 
State  ? 

Ansiv,  It  is  evident  in  many  Scriptures,  as  we  have 
shewn  before,  that  the  souls  of  men  after  death  are 
represented  as  enjoying  pleasure  or  punishment  in 


84  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF  SECT.  V, 

the  Separate  State.  The  soul  of  Lazarus  in  heaven, 
the  soul  of  Dives  in  hell,  the  soul  of  Paul  as  being 
'  present  with  the  Lord,  which  is  far  better,'  than 
dwelling  in  this  flesh,  or  being  present  with  this  bo- 
dy, &c.  therefore  there  must  be  a  sort  of  judgment 
or  sentence  of  determination  past  upon  every  such 
soul  by  the  great  God,  whether  it  shall  be  happy  or 
miserable:  for  it  can  never  be  supposed  that  happi- 
ness or  misery  should  be  given  to  such  souls  without 
the  determination  of  God  the  Judge  of  all:  And 
perhaps  that  text  Heb.  ix.  27.  refers  to  it,  "  it  is  ap- 
pointed unto  men  once  to  die,  but  after  this  the  judg- 
ment:" i.  e.  immediately  after  it. 

Or  suppose  that  in  the  Separate  State  the  pleasures 
or  sorrows,  which  attend  souls  departing  from  the 
body,  should  be  only  such  as  are  the  necessary  con- 
sequents of  a  life  spent  in  the  practice  of  vice  or  of 
virtue,  of  religion  or  ungodliness,  without  any  form- 
alities of  standing  before  a  judgment-seat,  or  a  solemn 
sentence  of  absolution  or  condemnation  :  Yet  the 
very  entrance  upon  this  state,  whether  it  be  of  peace 
or  of  torment,  must  be  supposed  to  signify,  that  the 
state  of  that  soul  is  adjudged  or  determined  by  the 
great  Governor  of  the  world  :  And  this  is  all  that  is 
necessarily  meant  by  a  particular  judgment  of  each 
soul  at  death,  wdiether  it  pass  under  the  solemn  form- 
alities of  a  judgment  and  a  tribunal  or  not. 

Object.  XIV.  If  the  saints  can  be  happy  without  a 
body,  what  need  of  a  resurrection.^  Let  the  body  be 
as  refmed,  as  active,  as  powerful  and  glorious  as  it 
can  be,  still  it  must  certainly  be  a  clog  to  the  soul; 


SECT.  V.  A  SEPARATE  STATE..  85 

and  this  was  the  objection  that  the  heathen  philoso- 
phers made  to  the  doctrine  of  the  rcburrection,  u  hich 
the  Christians  profess;  for  the  philosophers  told  them, 
this  resurrection,  which  they  called  their  highest  re- 
ward, was  really  a  punishment. 

Answ.  The  force  of  this  objection  has  been  quite 
taken  away  before,  when  it  has  been  shewn  that  man, 
being  a  creature  compounded  of  body  and  spirit, 
was  designed  for  its  highest  happiness,  and  the  per- 
fection of  its  nature  in  this  state  of  union,  and  not  in 
a  state  of  separation.  And  let  it  be  observed,  that 
when  the  body  shall  be  raised  from  the  grave,  it  shall 
not  be  such  flesh  and  blood  as  we  now  wear,  nor 
made  up  of  such  materials,  as  shall  clog  or  obstruct 
the  soul  in  any  of  its  most  vigorous  and  divine  exer- 
cises; but  it  shall  be  a  '*  spiritual  body,"  1  Cor.  xv. 
44.  a  body  fitted  to  serve  a  holy  and  a  glorified  spirit 
in  its  actions  and  its  enjoyments,  and  to  render  the 
spirit  capable  of  some  further  excellencies,  both 
of  action  and  enjoyment,  than  it  is  naturally  capable 
of  without  a  body.  What  sort  of  qualities  this  new- 
raised  body  shall  be  endued  with,  in  order  to  increase 
the  excellency  or  the  happiness  of  pious  souls,  will 
be,  in  a  great  measure,  a  mystery  or  a  secret,  till  that 
blessed  morning  appears. 

Object,  XV.  Is  not  our  immortality  in  Scripture 
described  as  built  upon  the  incorruptible  state  of  our 
new- raised  bodies?  1  Cor.  xv.  53.  '*  This  corrupt- 
ible must  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  must 
put  on  immortality :''  but  the  doctrine  of  the  Immor- 


86  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  Of  SECT.  V. 

tality  of  the  soul  is  not  particularly  found  or  taught 
in  Scripture. 

Jnszu»  It  is  granted  that  the  immortality  of  the 
new  raised  body  is  built  on  that  incorruptible  sort  of 
materials  of  which  it  is  to  be  formed,  or  which  shall 
be  mingled  with  it,  or  the  incorruptible  qualities 
which  shall  be  given  to  it  by  God  himself:  But  the 
soul  is  immortal  in  itself,  whether  with  or  without  a 
body :  And  he  that  can  read  all  those  texts  of  Scrip- 
ture which  have  been  before  made  use  of  in  this  es- 
say, wherein  the  existence  of  the  spirit  after  the  death 
of  the  body  is  so  plainly  expressed,  and  cannot  find 
the  '  immortality  of  the  souP  in  them,  or  the  *  spirit's 
capacity  of  existence  in  a  Separate  State  from  the 
body,'  must  be  left  to  his  own  sentiments  to  explain 
and  verify  the  expressions  of  Christ  and  his  Apos- 
tles some  other  way;  or  he  must  acknowledge  that 
these  expressions  are  somewhat  uncautious  and  dan- 
gerous, since  it  is  evident  they  lead  thousands  and 
ten  thousands  of  wise  and  sober  readers  into  this  sen- 
timent of  the  soul's  immortality. 

Whether  the  soul  in  its  own  nature  be  necessarily 
immortal,  is  a  point  of  philosophy,  and  not  to  be 
sought  for  directly  in  Scripture:  But  whether  the 
great  God,  the  Governor  of  the  world,  has  not  ap- 
pointed souls  to  exist  in  a  Separate  State  of  happi- 
ness or  misery  after  the  bodies  are  dead,  seems  to 
me  to  be  so  plainly  determined  in  many  of  the  Scrip- 
tures which  have  been  cited,  as  leaves  no  sufficient 
reason  to  doubt  of  the  truth  of  it. 


SECT.  V.  A  SEPARATE  STATE.  87 

To  conclude,  though  I  think  the  doctrine  of  the 
Separate  State  of  souls  to  be  of  much  importance  in 
Christianity,  and  that  the  denial  of  it  carries  great 
inconveniencies,  and  weakens  the  motive  to  virtue 
and  piety,  by  putting  off  all  manner  of  rewards  and 
punishments  to  such  a  distance  as  the  general  resur- 
rection, yet  I  dare  not  contend  for  it  as  a  matter  of 
such  absolute  necessity,  that  a  man  cannot  be  a  Chris- 
tian without  it.  But  this  must  be  confessed,  that 
they  who  deny  this  doctrine  seem  to  have  need  of 
stronger  inward  zeal  to  guard  them  against  tempta- 
tion, and  to  keep  their  hearts  always  alive  and  watch- 
ful to  God  and  religion,  since  their  motives  to  strict 
piety  and  virtue  are  sensibly  weakened,  by  renounc- 
ing all  belief  of  this  nearer  and  more  immediate 
commencement  of  heaven  and  hell. 


BIS  COURSES 

ON   THE 

WORLD  TO  COME. 

DISCOURSE   I. 

THE  END  OF  TIME. 

Kev.  X.  5,  6.  And  the  angel  ivhich  I  saw  stand  up- 
on the  sca^  and  upon  the  earth,  lifted  up  his  hand  to 
hea'Den,  and  sxvare  by  him  that  li^eth  for  euer  and 
ever, — that  there  should  be  time  no  longer. 

THIS  is  the  oath  and  the  solemn  sentence  of  a 
mighty  angel  who  came  down  from  heaven,  and  by 
the  description  of  him  in  the  first  verse,  he  seems  to 
be  the    **  angel  of  God's  presence,  in  whom  is  the 
name  of  God,"  even  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself, 
who  pronounced  and  sware  that  *'  Tim»e  should  be  no 
longer;"  for  all  seasons  and  times  are  now  put  into 
his  hand,  together  with  the  book  of  his  Father's  de- 
crees. Rev.  v.  7,  9.      What  special  age  or  periocf  of 
time  in  this  world  the  prophecy  refers  to,  may  not  be 
so  easy  to  determine;  but  this  is  certain,  that  it  may 
be  happily  applied  to  the  period  of  every  man's  life; 
for  whensoever  the  term   of  our  continuance  in  this 
world  is  finished,  *  our  Time,'  in  the  present  circum- 
stances and  scenes  that  attend  it,  '  shall  be  no  more : ' 


PISCOURSE   I.  THE  END  OF  TIME.  89 

We  shall  be  swept  off  the  stage  of  this  visible  state 
into  an  unseen  and  eternal  world  :  Eternity  comes 
upon  us  at  once,  and  all  that  we  enjoy,  all  that  we  do, 
and  all  that  we  suffer  in  '-  Time,  shall  be  no  longer.*' 

Let  us  stand  still  here,  and  consider  in  \}i\t  first 
place  what  awful  and  important  thoughts  are  contain- 
ed in  this  sentence,  what  solemn  ideas  should  arise 
to  the  view  of  mortal  creatures  when  it  shall  be  pro- 
nounced concerning  each  of  them,  that  '  Time  shall 
be  no  more.' 

1.  '  The  Time  of  the  recovery  of  our  nature  from 
its  sinful  and  wretched  state  shall  be  no  longer.'  We 
come  into  this  world  fallen  creatures,  children  of 
iniquity,  and  heirs  of  death ;  we  have  lost  the  '  image 
of  God'  who  made  us,  and  which  our  nature  enjoyed 
in  our  first  parents;  and  instead  of  it  we  are  chang- 
ed into  the  '  image  of  the  devil'  in  the  lusts  of  the 
mind,  in  pride  and  malice,  in  self-sufficiency  and  en- 
mity to  God  ;  and  we  have  put  on  also  the  '  image  of 
the  brute'  in  sinful  appetites  and  sensualities,  and  in 
the  lusts  of  the  flesh;  nor  can  we  ever  be  made  truly 
happy  till  the  image  of  the  blessed  God  be  restored 
upon  us,  till  we  are  made  holy  as  he  is  holy,  till  we 
have  a  divine  change  past  upon  us,  whereby  we  are 
created  anew  and  reformed  in  heart  and  practice. 
And  this  life  is  the  only  time  given  us  for  this  impor- 
tant change.  If  this  life  be  finished  before  the  image 
of  God  be  restored  to  us,  this  image  will  never  l>e 
restored;  but  we  shall  bear  the  likeness  of  devils  for 
ever;  and  perhaps  the  image  of  the  brute  too  at  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  and  be  further  off  from  God 


'90  THE  END  OF  TIME.  DISCOURSE  I. 

and  all  that  is  holy  than  ever  we   were  here  upon 
earth. 

Of  what  infinite  importance  is  it  then  to  be  fre- 
quently awakening  ourselves  at  special  seasons  and 
periods  of  life  to  inquire,  whether  this  image  of  God 
is  begun  to  be  renewed,  whether  we  have  this  glori- 
ous change  wrought  in  us,  whether  our  desires  and 
delights  are  fixed  upon  holy  and  heavenly  things,  in- 
stead of  those  sensual  and  earthly  objects  which  draw 
away  all  our  souls  from  God  and  heaven.  Let  it  ap- 
pear to  us  as  a  matter  of  utmost  moment  to  seek  after 
this  change;  let  us  pursue  it  with  unwearied  labours 
and  strivings  with  our  own  hearts,  and  perpetual  im- 
portunities at  the  throne  of  grace,  lest  the  voice  of 
liim  who  swears  that,  *  there  shall  be  Time  no  longer,' 
should  seize  us  in  some  unexpected  moment,  and 
least  he  swear  in  his  wrath  concerning  us,  *'  let  him 
that  is  unholy  be  unholy  still,  and  let  him  that  is 
filthy  be  filthy  still. '» 

2.  When  this  sentence  is  pronounced  concerning 
us,  '  the  season  and  the  means  of  restoring  us  to  the 
favour  and  love  of  God  shall  be  no  longer.'  We  are 
born  '  children  of  wrath'  as  well  as  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  iniquity,  Ephes.  ii.  2.  We  have  lost 
the  original  favour  of  our  Maker  and  are  banished 
from  his  love,  and  the  superior  blessings  of  his  good- 
ness ;  and  yet,  blessed  be  the  Lord,  that  we  are  not 
at  present  for  ever  bajiished  beyond  all  hope:  This 
'  Time  of  life'  is  given  us  to  seek  the  recovery  of  the 
love  of  God,  by  returning  to  him  according  to  the  gos- 
pel of  his  Son :  Now  is  pardon  and  peace,  now  is  grace 


DISCOURSE  I.  THE  END  OF  TIME.  91 

and  salvation  preached  unto  n>en,  to  sinful  wretched 
men,  who  are  at  enmity  with  God  and  tlie  objects  of 
his  high  displeasure  ;  now  the  voice  of  mercy  calls  to 
us,  "  This  is  the  accepted  time,  this  is  the  day  of  sal- 
vation," 2  Cor.  vi.  2.  **  To-day  if  ye  will  hear  his 
voice  let  not  your  hearts  be  hardened  to  refuse  it:" 
Now  the  fountain  of  the  blood  of  Christ  is  set  open 
to  wash  our  souls  from  the  guilt  of  sin;  now  all  the 
springs  of  his  mercy  are  broken  up  in  the  ministra- 
tions of  the  gospel :  Now  *  God  is  in  Christ  recon- 
ciling sinners  to  himself,'  and  '  he  has  sent  us,'  his 
ministers,  *  to  intreatyou  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  re- 
conciled to  God;'  and  we  beseech  you  in  his  name, 
continue  not  one  day,  or  one  hour,  longer  in  your 
enmity  and  rebellion,  but  be  ye  reconciled  to  God 
your  Creator,  and  accept  of  his  offered  forgiveness 
and  grace.     2  Cor.  v.  20. 

The  moment  is  hastening  upon  us  when  this 
mighty  angel,  who  manages  the  affairs  of  the  king- 
dom of  Providence,  shall  swear  concerning  every 
unbelieving  and  impenitent  sinner,  that  the  *  Time 
of  offered  mercy  shall  be  no  longer,  the  Time  of  par- 
don and  grace  and  reconciliation  shall  be  no  more  :' 
The  sound  of  this  m.ercy  reaches  not  to  the  regions 
of  the  dead;  those  who  die  before  they  are  recon- 
ciled, they  die  under  the  load  of  all  their  sins,  and 
must  perish  for  ever,  without  the  least  hope  or 
glimpse  of  reconciling  or  forgiving  grace. 

3.  At  the  term  of  this  mortal  life,  'the  Time  of 
prayer  and  repentance  and  service  for  God  or  man  in 
this  world  shall  be  no  longer,'  Eccl.  ix.  10.  *'  There 


92  THE  END  OF  TIME.  DISCOURSE  I. 

is  no  work  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom, 
in  the  grave  whither  thou  goest,"  whither  we  are  all 
hastening.  Let  every  sinful  creature  therefore  ask 
himself,  '  Have  I  never  yet  began  to  pray  ?  Never 
began  to  call  upon  the  mercy  of  God  that  made  me? 
Never  began  to  repent  of  all  my  crimes  and  follies?  Nor 
begun  in  good  earnest  to  do  service  for  God,  or  to 
honour  him  amongst  men  ?'  Dreadful  thought  indeed ! 
When  it  may  be  the  next  hour  we  may  be  put  out  of 
all  capacity  and  opportunity  to  do  it  for  ever!  As 
soon  as  ever  an  impenitent  sinner  has  the  vail  of  death 
drawn  over  him,  all  his  opportunities  of  this  kind 
are  for  ever  cut  off:  He  that  has  never  repented,  ne- 
ver prayed,  never  honoured  his  God,  shall  never  be 
able  to  pray  or  repent  or  do  any  thing  for  God  or  his 
honour  through  all  the  ages  of  his  future  immortality: 
Nor  is  there  any  promise  made  to  returning  or  re- 
penting sinners  in  the  other  world,  whither  we  are 
hastening.  "  As  the  tree  falls,"  when  it  is  cut  down, 
'*  so  it  lies,"  and  it  must  for  ever  lie,  *  pointing  to 
the  north  or  the  south,'  to  hell  or  heaven,  Eccles. 
xi.  3. 

And  indeed  there  is  no  true  prayer,  no  sincere  re- 
pentance can  be  exercised  after  this  life  ;  for  the  soul 
that  has  wasted  away  all  its  time  given  for  repentance 
and  prayer,  is,  at  the  moment  of  death,  left  under 
everlasting  hardness  of  heart;  and  whatsoever  enmity 
against  God  and  godliness  was  found  in  the  heart  in 
this  w^orld  is  increased  in  the  world  to  come,  when 
all  manner  of  softening  means  and  mercies  are  ever 
at  an  end.     Thi^  leads  me  to  the  next  thought. 


DISCOURSE   I.  THE  END  OF  TIME.  93 

4.  *  How  wretched  soever  our  state  is  at  death,  the 
day  of  hope  is  ended,  and  it  returns  no  more.'  Be 
our  circumstances  never  so  bad,  yet  we  are  not  com- 
pletely wretched  while  the  time  of  hope  remains. 
We  are  all  by  nature  miserable  by  reason  of  sin,  but 
it  is  only  despair  can  perfect  our  misery.  There- 
fore fallen  angels  are  sealed  up  under  misery  because 
there  is  no  door  of  hope  opened  for  them.  But  in 
this  life  there  is  hope  for  the  worst  of  sinful  men: 
There  is  the  word  of  grace  and  hope  calling  them  in 
the  gospel;  there  is  the  voice  of  divine  mercy  sounding 
in  the  sanctuary,  and  *  blessed  are  they  that  hear  the 
joyful  sound:'  But  if  we  turn  the  deaf  ear  to  the  voice 
of  God  and  his  Son,  and  to  all  the  tender  and  com- 
passionate intreaties  of  a  dying  Saviour,  hope  is  has- 
tening to  its  period  ;  for  this  very  angel  will  shortly 
swear,  that  this  joyful  sound  shall  be  heard  no  longer. 

He  comes  now  to  the  door  of  our  hearts,  he  sues 
there  for  admittance,  '  Open  unto  me  and  receive 
me  as  your  Saviour  and  your  Lord,  give  me  and  my 
gospel  free  admission,  and  I  will  come  in  and  bestow 
upon  you  the  riches  of  my  grace  and  all  my  salva- 
tion: Open  your  hearts  to  me  with  the  holy  desires 
and  humble  submission  of  penitence,  and  receive  the 
blessings  of  righteousness,  and  pardon,  and  eternal 
life.'  He  now  invites  you  to  return  to  God  with  an 
acknowledgment  and  renunciation  of  every  sin,  and 
he  offers  to  take  you  by  the  hand  and  introduce  you 
into  his  Father's  presence  with  comfort:  This  is  a 
day  of  hope  for  the  vilest  and  most  hateful  criminals; 
but  if  you  conlinue  to  refuse,  he  will  shortly  swear 


94.  THE  END  Of  TI5IE,  DISCOURSE  I. 

in  his  wrath,  you  shall  never  enter  into  his  kingdom, 
you  shall  never  taste  of  the  provisions  of  his  grace, 
you  shall  never  be  partakers  of  the  blessings  pur- 
chased with  his  blood,  Heb.  iii.  18.  *'  I  svvare  in  my 
wrath,"  saith  the  Lord,  *'  they  shall  not  enter  into 
my  rest.^^ 

Oh  the  dreadful  state  of  sinful  creatures,  who  con- 
tinue in  such  obstinacy,  who  waste  away  the  means 
of  grace  and  the  seasons  of  hope,  week  after  week, 
and  month  after  month,  till  the  day  of  grace  and  hope 
is  for  ever  at  an  end  with  them !  Hopeless  creatures  I 
Under  the  power  and  the  plague  of  sin,  under  the 
wrath  and  curse  of  a  God,  under  the  eternal  displea- 
sure of  Jesus  who  was  once  the  minister  of  his  Fa- 
ther's love ;  and  they  must  abide  under  all  this 
wretchedness  through  a  long  eternity,  and  in  the  land 
of  everlasting  despair.  But  I  forbear  that  theme  at 
present,  and  proceed. 

5.  At  the  moment  of  our  death  *the  Time  of  our 
preparation  for  the  hour  of  judgment,  and  for  the  in- 
surance of  heaven  and  happiness  shall  be  no  longer.* 
Miserable  creatures  that  are  summoned  to  die  thus 
unprepared  I  This  life  is  the  only  time  to  prepare  for 
dying,  to  get  ready  to  stand  before  the  Judge  of  the 
whole  earth,  and  to  secure  our  title  to  the  heavenly 
blessedness.  Let  my  heart  inquire,  *  Have  I  ever 
seriously  begun  to  prepare  for  a  dying  hour,  and  to 
appear  before  the  Judge  of  all?  Have  I  ever  concern- 
ed myself  in  good  earnest  to  secure  an  interest  in  the 
heavenly  inheritance,  when  this  earthly  tabernacle 
shall  be  dissolved  ?  Have  1  ever  made  interest  for  the 


DISCOURSE  I.  THE  END  OF  TIME.  §5 

favour  of  God  and  a  share  of  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints,  by  Jesus  the  great  Mediator  while  he  afforded 
life  and  time?'  Death  is  daily  and  hourly  hastening 
upon  us :  Death  is  the  '  king  of  terrors,'  and  will  ful- 
fil all  his  name  to  every  soul  that  is  unprepared.  It 
is  a  piece  of  wisdom  then  for  every  one  of  us,  since 
we  must  die,  to  search  and  feel  whether  death  has 
lost  its  sting  or  no :  Whether  it  be  taken  away  by 
the  blood  of  Christ  ?  Is  this  blood  sprinkled  on  my 
conscience  by  the  humble  exercise  of  faith  on  a  dying 
Saviour?  Are  the  terrors  of  death  removed,  and  am 
I  prepared  to  meet  it  by  the  sanctifying  influences  of 
the  blessed  Spirit  ?  Have  I  such  an  interest  in  the 
covenant  of  grace  as  takes  away  the  sting  of  death, 
as  turns  the  curse  into  a  blessing,  and  changes  the 
dark  scenes  of  death  into  the  commencement  of  a 
new  and  everlasting  life  ?  This  is  that  preparation 
for  dying  for  which  our  time  of  life  was  given  us ;  and 
happy  are  those  who  are  taught  of  God  to  make  this 
use  of  it. 

Judgment  is  making  haste  towards  us  ;  months  and 
days  of  divine  patience  are  flying  swift  away,  and  the 
last  great  day  is  just  at  hand :  Then  we  must  give  an 
account  of  **  all  that  has  been  done  in  the  body  whe- 
ther it  has  been  good  or  evil :"  And  what  a  dismal  and 
distressing  surprise  will  it  be  to  have  the  Judge  come 
upon  us  in  a  blaze  of  glory  and  terror,  while  we  have 
no  good  account  to  give  at  his  demand?  And  yet  this 
is  the  very  end  and  design  of  all  our  time,  which  is 
lengthened  out  to  us  on  this  side  the  grave,  and  of  all 
the    advantages  that   we   have  enjoyed  in  this  life, 


95  THE  END  OF  TIME.  DISCOURSE  I. 

that  we  may  be  ready  to  render  up  our  account  with 
joy  to  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth. 

Heaven  is  not  ours  by  birth  and  inheritance,  as 
lands  and  houses  on  earth  descend  to  us  from  our 
earthly  parents.  We  as  well  as  they  are  by  nature 
unfit  for  heaven  and  children  of  wrath;  but  we  may 
be  born  again,  we  may  be  born  of  God,  and  become 
heirs  of  the  heavenly  inheritance  through  Jesus 
Christ:  We  may  be  renewed  into  the  temper  and 
spirit  of  heaven;  and  this  life  is  the  only  season  that 
is  given  us  for  this  important  chanj^fc  :  Shall  we  let 
our  days  and  years  pass  away  one  after  another  in 
long  succession,  and  continue  the  children  of  wrath 
still  ?  Are  we  contented  to  go  on  this  year  as  the  last, 
without  a  title  to  heaven,  without  a  divine  temper, 
and  without  any  preparation  for  the  business  or  the 
blessedness  of  that  happy  world  ? 

6.  When  this  life  comes  to  an  end,  *  the  time  of 
all  our  earthly  comforts  and  amusements  shall  be  no 
more.'  We  shall  have  none  of  these  sensible  things 
around  us,  to  employ  or  entertain  our  eyes  or  our 
ears,  to  gratify  our  appetites,  to  sooth  our  passions, 
or  to  support  our  spirits  in  distress.  All  the  infinite 
variety  of  cares,  labours  and  joys,  which  surround  us 
here,  shall  be  no  more;  life,  with  all  the  busy  scenes 
and  the  pleasing  satisfactions  of  it  dissolve  and  perish 
together :  Have  a  care  then  that  you  do  not  make 
any  of  them  your  chief  hope,  for  they  are  but  the 
things  of  time,  they  are  all  short  and  dying  enjoy- 
ments. 


DISCOURSE  I.  THE  END  OF  TIME.  97 

Under  the  various  calamities  of  this  life  we  find  a 
variety  of  sensible  reliefs,  and  our  thoughts  and  souls 
are  called  away  from  their  sorrows  by  present  busi- 
ness, or  diverted  by  present  pleasures;  but  all  these 
avocations  and  amusements  will  forsake  us  at  once, 
when  we  drop  this  mortal  tabernacle;  we  must  enter 
alone  into  the  world  of  spirits,  and  live  without  them 
there. 

Whatsoever  agonies  or  terrors,  or  huge  distresses, 
we  may  meet  with  in  that  unknow^n  region,  we  shall 
have  none  of  these  sensible  enjoyments  to  soften  and 
allay  them,  no  drop  of  sweetness  to  mix  with  that 
bitter  cup,  no  scenes  of  gaiety  and  merriment  to  re- 
lieve the  gloom  of  that  utter  darkness,  or  to  sooth  the 
anguish  of  that  eternal  heart-ake.  O  take  heed,  my 
friends,  that  your  souls  do  not  live  too  much  on  any 
of  the  satisfactions  of  this  life,  that  your  affections  be 
not  set  upon  them  in  too  high  a  degree,  that  you 
make  them  not  your  idols  and  your  chief  good,  lest 
you  be  left  helpless  and  miserable  under  everlasting- 
disappointment,  for  they  cannot  follow  you  into  the 
world  of  souls :  They  are  the  things  of  time,  and 
they  have  no  place  in  eternity.  Read  what  caution 
the  Apostle  Paul  gives  us  in  our  converse  with  the 
dearest  comforts  of  life;  1  Cor.  vii.  29.  *'  The  time 
is  short;"  and  let  those  who  have  the  largest  afflu- 
ence of  temporal  blessings,  who  have  the  nearest 
aiid  kindest  relatives,  and  the  most  endeared  friend- 
ships, be  mortified  to  them,  and  be,  in  some  sense, 
'  as  though  they  had  them  not,'  for  ye  cannot  possess 
them  long,     St.  Peter  joins  in  the  same  sort  of  ad- 


98  THE  END  OF  TIME.  DISCOURSE  1. 

vice,  1  Pet.  iv.  7.  *'  The  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand, 
therefore  be  ye  sober,"  be  ye  moderate  in  every  en- 
joyment on  earth,  and  prepare  to  part  with  them  all, 
when  the  angel  pronounces  that  '  Time  shall  be  no 
longer;'  His  sentence  puts  an  effectual  period  to 
every  joy  in  this  life,  and  to  every  hope  that  is  not 
eternal. 

Thus  we  have  taken  a  brief  survey,  what  are  the 
solemn  and  awful  thoughts  relating  to  '  such  mortal 
creatures  in  general,'  which  are  contained  in  this 
voice  or  sentence  of  the  angel,  *  That  Time  shall  be 
no  longer.' 

In  the  second  place  let  us  proceed  further,  and  in- 
quire a  little  '  what  are  those  terrors  which  will 
attend  sinners,  impenitent  sinners,  at  the  end  of 
time.' 

1.  A  dreadful  account  must  be  given  of  all  this 
lost  and  wasted  time.  When  the  Judge  shall  ascend 
his  throne  in  the  air,  and  all  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  Adam  are  brought  before  him,  the  grand  inquiry 
will  be,  *  What  have  you  done  with  all  the  time  of 
life  in  yonder  world  ?  You  spent  thirty  or  forty  years 
there,  or  perhaps  seventy  or  eighty,  and  I  gave  you 
this  time  widi  a  thousand  opportunities  and  means 
<)f  grace  and  salvation;  what  have  you  done  with 
them  all  ?  How  many  Sabbaths  did  I  afford  you? 
How  many  sermons  have  ye  heard  ?  How  many  sea- 
sons did  I  give  you  for  prayer  and  retirement,  and 
converse  with  God  and  your  own  souls?  Did  you 
improve  time  well?  Did  you  pray?  Did  you  con- 
verse with  your  souls   and  with   God?    Or  did  you 


OISCOURSE  I.  THE  E^D  OF  TIME.  99 

suffer  time  to  slide  away  in  a  thousand  impertinen- 
cies,  and  neglect  the  one  thing  necessary?' 

2.  '  A  fruitless  and  bitter  mourning  for  the  waste 
and  abuse  of  time'  will  be  another  consequence  of 
your  folly.  Whatsoever  satisfaction  you  may  take 
now  in  passing  time  away  merrily  and  without  think- 
ing, it  must  not  pass  away  so  for  ever.  If  the  ap- 
proaches of  death  do  not  awaken  you,  yet  judgment 
will  do  it.  Your  consciences  will  be  worried  with 
terrible  reflections  on  your  foolish  conduct. 

O  could  we  but  hear  the  complaints  of  the  souls 
in  hell,  what  multitudes  of  them  would  be  found 
groaning  out  this  dismal  note,  <  How  hath  my  time 
been  lost  in  vanity,  and  my  soul  is  now  lost  for  ever 
in  distress:  How  might  I  have  shone  among  the 
saints  in  heaven,  had  I  wisely  improved  the  time 
which  was  given  me  on  earth,  given  me  on  purpose 
to  prepare  for  death  and  heaven?'  Then  they  will 
for  ever  curse  themselves,  and  call  themselves  eter. 
nal  fools,  for  hearkening  to  the  temptations  of  flesh 
and  sense,  which  wasted  their  time,  and  deprived 
them  of  eternal  treasures. 

3.  Another  of  the  terrors  which  will  seize  upon 
impenitent  sinners  at  the  end  of  time,  wHl  be  *  end- 
less despair  of  the  recovery  of  lost  time,  and  of  those 
bfessings  whose  hope  is  for  ever  lost  with  it.'  There 
are  blessings  off*ered  to  sinful  miserable  men  in  time, 
which  will  never  be  offered  in  eternity,  nor  put  with- 
in their  reach  for  ever.  The  gospel  hath  no  calls, 
no  invitations,  no  encouragements,  no  promises  for 
the  dead,  who  ha^•e  lost  and  wasted  their  time,  and 


100  THE  END  OF  TIMEr        DISCOURSE  I, 

are  perished  without  hope.  The  region  of  sorrow, 
whither  the  Judge  shall  drive  impenitent  sinners,  is 
a  dark  and  desolate  place,  where  light  and  hope  can 
never  come:  But  fruitless  repentance,  with  horrors 
and  agonies  of  soul,  and  doleful  despair  reign  through 
that  world,  without  one  gleam  of  light  or  hope,  or 
one  moment  of  intermission.  Then  will  despairing 
sinners  gnaw  their  tongues  for  anguish  of  heart, 
and  curse  themselves  with  long  execrations,  and 
curse  their  fellow  sinners,  who  assisted  them  to 
waste  their  time,  and  ruin  their  souls. 

4.  The  last  terror  I  shall  mention  which  will  attend 
sinners  at  the  end  of  time,  is  an  *  eternal  suffering  of 
all  the  painful  and  dismal  consequences  of  lost  and 
wasted  time.  Not  one  smile  from  the  face  of  God 
for  ever,  not  one  glimpse  of  love  or  mercy  in  his 
countenance,  not  one  word  of  grace  from  Jesus 
Christ  who  was  once  the  chief  messenger  of  the 
grace  of  God,  not  one  favourable  regard  from  all 
the  holy  saints  and  angels;  but  the  fire  and  brim- 
stone burn  without  end,  *'  and  the  smoke  of  this  their 
torment  will  ascend  for  ever  and  ever  before  the 
throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb." 

Who  knows  how  keen  and  bitter  will  be  the  ago- 
nies of  an  awakened  conscience,  and  the  vengeance 
of  a  provoked  God  in  that  world  of  misery  ?  How 
will  you  cry  out,  '  O  what  a  wretch  have  I  been  to 
renounce  all  the  advices  of  a  compassionate  father, 
when  he  would  have  persuaded  me  to  improve  the 
time  of  youth  and  health!  Alas,  I  turned  a  deaf  ear 
to  his  advice,  and  now  time  is  lost,  and  my  hopes  of 


DISCOURSE  I.  THi:  END  OF  TIME.  101 

mercy  for  ever  perished.  How  have  I  treated  with 
ridicule  among  iny  vain  companions  the  compassion- 
ate and  pious  counsels  of  my  ap:ed  parents  who  la- 
boured for  my  salvation?  How  have  I  scorned  the 
tender  admonitions  of  a  mother,  and  wasted  that 
time  in  siiining  and  sensuality  which  should  have 
been  spent  in  prayer  and  devotion?  And  God  turns 
a  deaf  ear  to  my  cries  now,  and  is  regardless  of  all 
my  groanings.'  This  sort  of  anguish  of  spiiit  with 
loud  and  cutting  complaints  would  destroy  life  itself, 
'  and  these  inward  terrors  would  sting  their  souls  to 
death,  if  there  could  be  any  such  thing  as  dying 
there.  Such  sighs  and  sobs  and  bitter  agonies  would 
break  their  hearts,  and  dissolve  their  being,  if  the 
heart  could  break,  or  the  being  could  be  dissolved: 
But  immortality  is  their  dreadful  portion,  immortal- 
ity of  sorrows  to  punish  their  wicked  and  wilful  abuse 
of  time,  and  that  waste  of  the  means  of  grace  they 
were  guilty  of  in  their  tnortal  state. 

I  proceed  in  the  last  place  to  consider  what  reflec- 
tions may  be  made  on  this  discourse,  or  what  are 
some  of  the  profitable  lessons  to  be  leann  from  it. 

Reflect.  I.  We  may  learn  with  great  evidence  *  the 
inestimable  worth  and  value  of  time,  and  particularly 
to  those  who  are  not  prepared  for  eternity.'  Every 
hour  you'live  is  an  hour  longer  given  you  to  prepare 
for  dying,  and  to  save  a  soul.  If  you  were  but  ap- 
prized of  the  worth  of  your  own  souls,  you  would 
better  know  the  worth  of  da}  s  and  liours,  and  of 
every  passing  moment,  for  they  are  given  to  secure 
your  immortal  interest,  and  save  a  soul  from  ever- 


102  THE  END  OF  TIMK.  DISCOURSE  I. 

lasting  misery.  And  you  would  be  zealous  and  im- 
portunate in  the  prayer  of  Moses,  the  man  of  God, 
upon  a  meditation  of  the  shortness  of  life,  Psal.  xc. 
12.  ^'  So  teach  us  to  number  our  days  as  to  apply 
our  hearts  to  wisdom,"  i.  e.  So  teach  us  to  consider 
how  few  and  uncertain  our  days  are,  that  we  may  be 
truly  wise  in  preparing  for  the  end  of  them. 

It  is  a  matter  of  vast  importance  to  be  ever  ready 
for  the  end  of  time,  ready  to  hear  this  awful  sentence 
confirmed  with  the  oath  of  the  glorious  angel,  that 
*  Time  shall  be  no  longer.'  The  terrors  or  the  com- 
forts of  a  dying  bed  depend  upon  it:  The  solemn  and 
decisive  voice  of  judgment  depends  upon  it:  The 
joys  and  the  sorrows  of  a  long  eternity  depend  upon 
it:  Go  now,  careless  sinner,  and  in  the  view  of  such 
things  as  these,  go  and  trifie  away  time  as  you  have 
done  before;  time,  that  invaluable  treasure  :  Go  and 
venture  the  loss  of  your  souls,  and  the  hopes  of  hea- 
ven and  your  eternal  happiness,  in  wasting  away  the 
remnant  hours  or  moments  of  life:  But  remember 
the  awful  voice  of  the  angel  is  hastening  towards 
you,  and  the  sound  is  just  breaking  in  upon  you, 
that  '  Time  shall  be  no  longer.' 

Reflect.  II.  *  A  due  sense  of  time  hastening  to  its 
period  will  furnish  us  with  perpetual  new  occasions 
of  holy  meditation. 

Do  I  observe  the  declining  day  and  the  setting  sun 
sinking  into  darkness  :   So  declines  the  day   of  life, 
the  hours  of  labour,  and  the  season  of  grace  :   O  may 
I  finish  my  appointed  work   w  ith  honour,  before  the  ' 
light  is  fled  !  May  I  improve  the  shining  hours  of 


DISCOURSE  I.  THE  END  OF  TIME.  103 

grace   before  the    shadows  of  the   evening   overtake 
me,  a  fid  my  time  of  working  is  no  more  ! 

Do  I  see  the  moon  gliding  along  through  mid- 
night, and  fulfilling  her  stages  in  the  dusky  sky  ? 
This  planet  also  is  measuring  out  my  life,  and  bring- 
ing the  number  of  my  months  to  their  end.  May  I  be 
prepared  to  take  leave  of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  bid 
adieu  to  these  visible  heavens  and  all  the  twinkling 
glories  of  them  !  These  are  all  but  the  measurers  of 
my  time,  and  hasten  me  on  towards  eternity. 

Am  I  walking  in  a  garden  and  stand  still  to  observe 
the  slow  motion  of  the  shadow  upon  a  dial  there  ? 
It  passes  over  the  hour  lines  with  an  imperceptible 
progress,  yet  it  will  touch  the  last  line  of  day  light 
shortly  :  So  my  hours  and  my  moments  move  on- 
ward with  a  silent  pace;  but  they  will  arrive  with 
certainty  at  the  last  limit,  how  heedless  soever  I  am 
of  their  motion,  and  how  thoughtless  soever  I  may 
be  of  the  improvement  of  time,  or  of  the  end  of  it. 

Does  a  new  year  commence,  and  the  first  morning 
of  it  dawn  upon  me  ?  Let  me  remen^ber  that  the  last 
year  was  finished,  and  gone  over  my  head,  in  order 
to  make  way  for  the  entrance  of  the  present :  1  hive 
one  year  the  less  to  travel  through  this  world,  and  to 
fulfil  the  various  services  of  a  travelling  state  :  May 
my  diligence  in  duty  be  doubled,  since  the  number  of 
my  appointed  years  is  diminished. 

Do  I  find  a  new  birth-day  in  my  survey  of  the  ka- 
lendar,  the  day  wherein  I  entered  upon  the  stage  of 
mortality,  and  was  born  into  this  world  of  sins,  frail- 
ties and  sorrows,  in  order  to  my  probation  for  a  bet- 


104  THE   END  or  TIME.  DISCOURSE    I, 

tcr  state  ?  Blessed  Lord,  how  much  have  I  spent  al- 
ready of  this  mortal  life,  this  season  of  my  probation, 
and  how  little  am  I  prepared  for  that  happier  world  ? 
How  unready  for  n^y  dying  moment  ?  I  am  hasten- 
ing hourly  to  the  end  of  the  life  of  man  which  began 
at  my  nativity  ;  am  I  yet  born  of  God  >  Have  I  be- 
gun the  life  of  a  saint  ?  Am  I  prepared  for  that  awful 
day  which  shall  determine  the  number  of  my  months 
on  earth  ?  Am  I  fit  to  be  born  into  the  world  of  spi- 
rits through  the  strait  gate  of  death  ?  Am  I  renewed 
in  all  the  powers  of  my  nature,  and  made  meet  to 
enter  into  that  unseen  world,  where  there  shall  be  no 
more  of  these  revolutions  of  days  and  years,  but  one 
eternal  day  fills  up  all  the  space  with  divine  pleasure, 
or  one  eternal  night  widi  long  and  deplorable  distress 
and  darkness  > 

When  I  see  a  friend  expiring,  or  the  corps  of  my 
neigiibour  conveyed  to  the  grave,  alas  !  Their  months 
and  minutes  are  all  determined,  and  the  seasons  of 
their  trial  are  finished  for  ever  ;  they  are  gone  to  their 
eternal  home,  and  the  estate  of  their  souls  is  fixed 
unchan?2;eably  :  The  angel  that  has  sworn  their  '  time 
shall  be  no  longer,'  has  concluded  their  hopes,  or 
has  finished  their  fears,  and,  according  to  the  rules 
fu^  righteous  judgment,  has  decided  their  misery  or 
happiness  for  a  long  immortality.  Take  this  warn- 
ing, O  my  soul,  and  think  of  thy  own  removal. 

Are  we  standing  in  the  church  yard,  paying  the 
last  honours  to  the  reiicks  of  our  friends  ?  What  a 
number  of  hillocks  of  death  appear  all  round  us  > 
What  are  the  tomb-stonc:,  but  memorials  of  the  in- 


\ 

DISCOURSE  T.  THE  END  OF  TIME.  105 

habitants  of  that  town,  to  inform  us  of  the  periods  of 
all  their  lives,  and  to  point  out  the  day  when  it  was 
said  to  each  of  them,  »  your  time  shall  be  no  longer.' 
O  may  I  readily  learn  this  important  lesson,  that  my 
turn  is  hastening  too  ;  such  a  little  hillock  shall  short- 
ly arise  for  me  in  some  unknown  spot  of  ground,  it 
shall  cover  this  flesh  and  these  bones  of  mine  in  dark- 
ness, and  shall  hide  them  from  the  light  of  the  sun, 
and  from  the  sight  of  man  till  the  heavens  be  no 
more. 

Perhaps  some  kind  surviving  friend  may  engrave 
my  name  with  the  number  of  my  days,  upon  a  plain 
funeral  stone,  without  ornament  and  below  envy  : 
There  shall  my  tomb  stand  among  the  rest  as  a  fresh 
monument  of  the  frailty  of  nature  and  the  end  of  time. 
It  is  possible  some  friendly  foot  may  now  and  then 
visit  the  place  of  my  repose,  and  some  tender  eye 
may  bedew  the  cold  memorial  with  a  tear  :  One  or 
another  of  my  old  acquaintance  may  possibly  attend 
there  to  learn  the  silent  lecture  of  mortality  from  my 
grave  stone,  which  my  lips  are  now  preaching  aloud 
to  the  v/orld  :  And  if  love  and  sorrow  should  reach 
so  far,  perhaps  while  his  soul  is  melting  in  his  eye- 
lids, and  his  voice  scarce  finds  an  utterance,  he  will 
point  with  his  finger,  and  shew  his  companion  the 
month  and  the  day  of  my  decease.  O  that  solemn, 
that  awful  day,  which  shall  finish  my  appointed  time 
on  earth,  and  put  a  full  period  to  all  the  designs  of  my 
heart,  and  all  the  labours  of  my  tono^ue  and  i)en ! 

Thijik,  O  my  soul,  that  wliile  friends  or  strani^ers 
are  engaged  on  that  spot,  and  reading  the  date  of  thy 


106  THE  END  OF  TIME.  DISCOURSE  I. 

departure  hence,  thou  wilt  be  fixed  under  a  decisive 
and  unchangeable  sentence,  rejoicing  in  the  rewards 
of  time  well-improved,  or  suffering  the  long  sorrows 
M'hich  shall  attend  the  abuse  of  it,  in  an  unknown 
world  of  happiness  or  misery. 

Reflect.  III.  We  may  learn  from  this  discourse, 
the  '  stupid  folly  and  madness  of  those  who  are  terri- 
bly afraid  of  the  end  of  time  whensoever  they  think 
of  it,  and  yet  they  know  not  what  ta  do  with  their 
time  as  it  runs  off  daily  and  hourly.'  Jhey  find  their 
souls  unready  for  death,  and  yet  they  live  from  year 
to  year  without  any  further  preparation  for  dying: 
They  waste  away  their  hours  of  leisure  in  mere  tri- 
fling, they  lose  their  seasons  of  grace,  their  means 
and  opportunities  of  salvation,  in  a  thoughtless  and 
shameful  manner,  as  though  they  had  no  business  to 
employ  them  in ;  they  live  as  though  they  had  nothing 
to  do  with  all  their  time  but  to  eat  and  drink,  and  be 
easy  and  merry.  From  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun, 
you  find  them  still  in  pursuit  of  impertinencies;  they 
waste  God's  sacred  time  as  well  as  their  own,  either 
in  a  lazy,  indolent,  and  careless  humour,  or  in  fol- 
lowing after  vanity,  sin  and  madness,  while  the  end 
of  time  is  hastening  upon  them. 

What  multitudes  are  there  of  the  race  of  Adam, 
both  in  higher  and  lower  ranks,  who  are  ever  com- 
plaining they  want  leisure ;  and  when  they  have  a 
release  from  business  for  one  day,  or  one  hour,  they 
hardly  know  what  to  do  with  that  idle  day,  nor  how 
to  lay  out  one  of  the  hours  of  it  for  any  valuable  pur- 
pose? Those  in  higher  station  and  richer  circum- 


DISCOURSE  I.  THE  END  OF  TIME.  107" 

Stances,  have  most  of  their  time  at  their  own  com- 
mand and  disposal :   but   by   their  actual  disposal  of 
it,  you  plainly  see  they  know  not  what  it  is  good  for, 
nor  what  use  to  make  of  it;   they  are  quite  at  a  loss 
how  to  get  rid   of  this  tedious  thing  called  Time, 
which  lies  daily  as  a  burden  on  their  hands.     Indeed 
if  their  head  ake,  or  their  fiice  grow  pale,  and  a  phy- 
sician feel  their  pulse,    or   look    wishfully  on  their 
countenance;  and,  especially,  if  he  should  shake  his 
head,    or  tell  them  his  fears  that   they  will  not  hold 
out  long,   what  surprise  of  soul,    what  agonies  and 
terrors  seize  them  on  a  sudden  for  fear  of  the  end  of 
time?  For  diey  are  conscious  how  unfit  they  are  for 
eternity:   Yet  when  the  pain  vanishes  and  they  feel 
health  again,  they  are  as  much  at  a  loss  as  ever  what 
to  do  with  the  remnant  of  life. 

O  the  painful  and  the  unhappy  ignorance  of  the 

sons  and  daughters  of  men,  that  are  sent  hither  on  a 

trial  for  eternity,  and  yet  know  not  how  to  pass  away 

time!   they  know  not  how  to  wear  out  life,   and  get 

soon   enough   to  the    end  of  the  day:   '  They  doze 

their  hours  away,   or   saunter   from  place  to  place,* 

without  any  design   or   meaning:    They   enquire  of 

every  one  they  meet,  what  they  shall  do  to  kill  time^ 

(as  the  French  phrase  is,)  because  they  cannot  spend 

it   fast  enough;  they  are    perpetually  calling  in  the 

assistance  of  others  to  lau<j;h,  or  sport,  or  trifle  with 

them,  and  to  help  them  off  with  this  dead  weight  of 

time,  while,  at  the  same  moment,  if  you  do  but  men- 

tion  the  end  of  time,    they  are  dreadfully   afraid  of 

coming  near  it.      What  fol'y  and  distraction  is  this? 


108  THE  END  OF  TIME.  DISCOURSE  I. 

Wliat  sottish  inconsistency  Is  found  in  the  heart  and 
practice  of  smful  men,  Eccles.  ix.  3.  '*  The  heart  of 
the  sons  of  men,  is  full  of  evil,  madness  is  in  their 
heart  while  they  hve,  and  after  that  they  go  down  to 
the  dead." 

O  that  these  loiterers  would  once  consider  that 
time  loiters  not;  days  and  hours,  months  and  years, 
loiter  not;  each  of  iheni  flies  away  with  swiftest  wing, 
as  fast  as  succession  admits  of,  and  bears  them  on- 
w^ard,  to  the  goal  of  eternity.  If  they  delay  and  lin- 
ger among  toys  and  shadows,  tii;^ie  knows  no  delay; 
and  they  will  one  day  learn  by  bitter  experience  what 
substantial,  important,  and  eternal  blessings  they 
have  lost  by  their  criminal  and  shameful  waste  of 
time.  The  Apostle  Peter  assures  them,  2  Pet.  ii. 
3.  Though  diey  slumber  and  sleep  in  a  lethargy  of 
sin,  so  that  you  cannot  awaken  them,  yet  *  their  jiidg- 
ment  lingereth  not,  and  tiieir  damnation  slumbereth 
not.'  The  awful  moment  is  hasting  upon  them 
which  shall  teach  them  terribly  the  true  value  of 
time:  Then  they  would  give  all  the  golden  pleasures, 
and  the  riches  and  the  grandeur  of  this  world,  to 
purchase  one  short  day  more,  or  one  hour  of  time, 
wherein  they  might  repent  and  return  to  God,  and 
get  within  the  reach  of  hope  and  salvation:  But  time 
and  salvation  and  hope  are  all  vanished,  and  fled, 
and  c^one  out  of  their  reach  for  ever. 

Reflect.  IV.  Learn  from  such  mediations  as  these, 
*  the  rich  mercy  of  God,  and  the  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  in  giving  us  so  long  a  warning,  before 
he  swears  that  thne  shall  he  no  more,'*     Every  stroke 


DISCOURSE  I.  THE  ENI>  OF  TIME.  109 

of  sickness  is  a  warning-piece  that  life  is  coming  to 
its  period:  every  death  amongst  our  friends  and  ac- 
quaintance,  is  another  tender  and  painful  admonition 
that  our  death  also  is  at  hand :  The  end  of  every 
week  and  e^ery  dawning  Sabbath  is  another  warning; 
every  sermon  we  hear  of  the  '  shortness  of  time,'  and 
the  '  uncertainty  of  life,'  is  a  fresh  intimation  that 
the  great  angel  will  shortly  pronounce  a  period  upon 
all  our  time.  How  inexcusable  shall  we  be  if  we 
turn  the  deaf  ear  to  all  these  warnings?  St.  Peter 
advises  us  to  "  count  the  long-suffering  of  the  Lord 
for  salvation."  2  Pet.  iii.  15.  and  to  secure  our  eter- 
nal safety,  and  our  escape  from  hell,  during  the  season, 
of  his  lengthened  grace. 

Alas!  How  long  has  Jesus,  and  his  mercy,  and 
his  gospel,  waited  on  you,  before  you  began  to  think 
of  the  things  of  your  everlasting  peace?  And  if  you 
are  now  solemnly  awakened,  yet  how  long  has  he 
waited  on  you  with  fresh  admonitions,  and  with  spe- 
cial providences,  with  mercies  and  judgments,  with 
promises  and  invitations  of  grace,  with  threatenings 
and  words  of  terror,  and  with  the  whispers  and  ad- 
vices of  his  own  Spirit,  since  you  began  to  see  your 
danger  ?  And  after  all,  have  you  yet  sincerely  re- 
pented of  sin?  Have  you  yet  received  the  offered 
grace  ?  Have  you  given  up  yourselves  to  the  Lord 
and  laid  hold  of  his  salvation?  2  Cor.  vi.  2.  *'This 
is  the  accepted  time,  this  is  the  day  of  salvation;  To- 
day if  ye  will  hear  his  voice  harden  not  your  hearts." 
Heb.  iii.  7,  8,  &c.  It  is  never  said  through  all  the 
Eible,  that  '  to-morrow  is  the  day  of  grace  j'  or  *  to- 

p 


110  THE  END  or  TIME.  DISCOURSE  I^ 

morrow  is  the  time  of  acceptance:'  It  is  the  present 
hour  only  that  is  oiFered.  Every  clay  and  every  hour 
is  a  mercy  of  unknown  importance  to  sinful  men :  It 
is  a  mercy,  O  sinners,  that  you  awaked  not  this 
morning  in  hell,  and  that  you  were  not  fixed  without 
remedy  beyond  the  reach  of  hope  and  mercy. 

Reflect.  V.  Learn  from  this  discourse  what  '  a  very 
useful  practice  it  would  be  to  set  ourselves  often  be- 
fore hand  as  at  the  end  of  time,'  to  imagine  ourselves 
just  under  the  sound  of  the  voice  of  this  mighty  an- 
gel, or  at  the  tribunal  of  Christ,  and  to  call  our  souls 
to  a  solemn  account  in  what  manner  we  have  past 
away  all  our  leisure  time  hitherto:  I  mean,  all  that 
time  which  hath  not  been  laid  out  in  the  necessities 
of  the  natural  life  for  its  support  and  its  needful  re- 
freshment, or  in  the  due  and  proper  employments  of 
the  civil  life :  Both  these  are  allowed  and  required 
by  the  God  of  nature  and  the  God  of  providence  who 
governs  the  world:  But  what  hast  thou  done  O  man ; 
O  woman,  what  hast  thou  done  with  all  the  hours 
of  leisure  which  might  have  been  laid  out  on  far  bet- 
ter employments,  and  to  far  nobler  purposes?  Give 
me  leave  to  eater  into  particulars  a  little,  for  generals 
do  but  seldom  convince  the  mind,  or  awaken  the 
conscience,  or  affect  the  heart. 

1.  Have  you  not  *  slumbered' or  squandered'  away 
too  much  time  '  without  any  useful  purpose  or  de- 
sign' at  all  ?  How  many  are  there,  that  when  they 
have  morning  hours  on  their  hands,  can  pass  them 
off  on  their  beds,  and  lose  and  forget  time  in  '  a  little 
more  sleep  and  a  little  more  slumber;'  a  few  imper- 


DISCOURSE  I.  THE  END  OF  TIME*  HI 

tinencies  with  breakfast  and  dressing  wear  out  the 
morning  without  God.  And  how  many  afternoon 
and  evening  hours  are  worn  away  in  such  sauntering 
idleness  as  I  have  described,  that  when  the  night 
comes  they  cannot  review  one  half  hour's  useful 
work,  from  the  dawn  of  morning  to  the  hour  of  rest. 
Time  is  gone  and  vanished,  and  as  they  knew  not 
what  to  do  with  it  while  it  was  present,  so  now  it  is 
past,  they  know  not  what  they  have  done  with  it : 
They  keep  no  account  of  it,  and  are  never  prepared 
to  come  to  a  reckoning:  But  will  the  great  Judge  of 
all  take  this  for  answer  to  such  a  solemn  inquiry  ? 

2.  Have  you  never  laid  out  much  more  time  than 
w^as  needful  in  *  recreations  and  pleasures  of  sense  ?' 
Recreations  are  not  unlawful,  so  far  as  they  are  ne- 
cessary and  proper  to  relieve  the  fatigue  of  the  spirits, 
when  they  are  tired  with  business  or  labour,  and  to 
prepare  for  new  labours  and  new  businesses;  but 
have  we  not  followed  sports  without  measure  and 
without  due  limitation?  Hath  not  some  of  that  very- 
time  been  spent  in  them  which  should  have  been  laid 
out  in  preparing  for  death  and  eternity,  and  in  seek- 
ing things  of  far  higher  importance? 

3.  Have  you  not  wasted  too  much  time  in  your  fre- 
quent clubs,  and  what  you  call  good  company^  and  in 
*  places  of  public  resort.'  Hath  not  the  tavern,  or  the 
coffee-house,  or  the  ale-house,  seen  and  known  you 
from  hour  to  hour  for  a  whole  evenino:,  and  that 
sometimes  before  the  trade  or  labours  of  the  day 
should  have  been  ended  ?  And  when  your  Bible  and 
your  closet,  or  the  devotion  of  your  family,   have 


112  THE  END  er  TIME.  ptaCOURSE  I. 

sometimes  called  upon  your  conscience,   have  you 
not  turned  the  deaf  ear  to  them  all  ? 

4.  Have  not  '  useless  and  impertinent  visits'  been 
made  to  no  good  purpose,  or  been  prolonged  beyond 
all  necessity  or  improvement?  When  your  conver- 
sation runs  low  even  to  the  dregs,  and  both  you  and 
your  friends  have  been  at  a  loss  what  to  say  next, 
and  knew  not  how  to  fill  up  the  time,  yet  the  visit 
must  go  on,  and  time  must  be  wasted.  Sometimes 
the  wind  and  the  weather,  and  twenty  insignifican- 
cies,  or  (what  is  much  worse)  scandal  of  persons  or 
families,  have  come  into  your  relief,  that  there  might 
not  be  too  long  a  silence ;  but  not  one  word  of  rod 
or  goodness  could  find  room  to  enter  in  and  relieve 
the  dull  hour.  Is  none  of  this  time  ever  to  be  ac- 
counted for  ?  And  will  it  sound  well  in  the  ears  of 
of  the  great  Judge,  *  We  ran  to  these  sorry  topics, 
these  slanderous  and  backbiting  stories,  because  we 
could  not  tell  what  to  talk  of,  and  we  knew  not  how 
spend  our  time.' 

5.  Have  you  not  been  guilty  of  '  frequent  and  evea 
perpetual  delays  or  neglects  of  your  proper  necessary 
business  in  the  civil  life,  or  in  the  solemn  duties  of 
religion,  by  busying  yourselves  in  some  other  need^ 
less  thing  under  this  pretence,  it  is  time  enough yetP 

Have  you  learnt  that  important  and  eternal  rule  of 
prudence,  *  never  delay  till  to-morrow  what  may  be 
done  to-day;  never  put  off  till  the  next  hour  what 
may  be  done  in  this?'  Have  you  not  often  experi- 
enced your  own  dis^fppointment  and  folly  by  these 
delays?  And  yet  have  you  ever  so  repented  as  to 


DISCOURSE  I.  THE  END  OF  TIME.  IIS 

learn  to  mend  them  ?  Solomon  tells  us,  Eccles.  i'lu 
1,  <*  There  is  a  time  for  every  purpose,  and  every 
work,  under  the  sun  :"  A  proper  and  agreeable  time 
for  every  lawful  work  of  nature  and  life ;  and  it  is  the 
business  and  cjre  of  a  wise  man  to  *  do  proper  work 
in  proper  time;'  but  when  we  have  let  slip  the  pro- 
per season,  how  often  have  we  been  utterly  disap- 
pointed? Have  we  not  sustained  great  inconvenien- 
cies?  And  sometimes  it  hath  so  happened  that  we 
could  never  do  that  work  or  business  at  all,  because 
another  proper  season  for  it  hath  never  offered  ?  Time 
hath  been  no  more.  Felix  put  off  his  discourse  with 
Paul  about  the  "  faith  of  Christ,  and  righteousness, 
and  judgment  to  come,  to  a  more  convenient  time," 
which  probably  never  came,  Acts  xxiv.  25,  And 
the  word  of  God  teaches  us,  that  if  we  neglect  our 
salvation  in  the  present  day  of  grace,  the  angel  in  my 
text  is  ready  to  swear,  that  *  Time  shall  be  no 
longer.' 

Here  permit  me  to  put  in  a  short  word  to  those  who 
have  lost  much  time  already. 

O  my  friends,  begin  now-  to  do  what  in  you  lies  to 
regain  it,  by  double  diligence  in  the  matters  of  your 
salvation,  lest  the  *  voice  of  the  arch-angel'  should 
finish  your  time  of  trial,  and  call  you  to  judgment 
before  you  are  prepared. 

What  time  lies  before  you  for  this  double  improve- 
ment God  only  knows:  The  remnant  of  the  mea- 
sure of  your  days  are  with  him,  and  every  evening 
the  number  is  diminished:  Let  not  the  rising  sun 
upbraid  you  with  continued  negligence.     Hcmem 


114  THE  END  OF  TIME.  3)lSC0URSE  I. 

ber  your  former  abuses  of  hours,  and  months,  and 
years,  in  folly  and  sin,  or  at  best  in  vanity  and  tri- 
fling :  Let  these  thoughts  of  your  past  conduct  lie 
with  such  an  effectual  weight  on  your  hearts,  as  to 
keep  you  ever  vigorous  in  present  duty.  Since  you 
have  been  so  lazy  and  loitering  in  your  Christian 
race  in  time  past,  take  larger  steps  daily,  and  stretch 
all  the  powers  of  your  souls  to  hasten  towards  the 
crown  and  the  prize.  Hearken  to  the  voice  of  God  in 
his  word,  with  stronger  attention  and  zeal  to  profit: 
Pray  to  a  long-suffering  God  with  double  fervency ; 
cry  aloud  and  give  him  no  rest  till  your  sinful  soul  is 
changed  into  penitence,  and  renewed  to  holiness,  till 
you  have  some  good  evidences  of  your  sincere  love 
to  God,  and  unfeigned  faith  in  his  son  Jesus.  Ne- 
ver be  satisfied  till  you  are  come  to  a  well-grounded 
hope  through  grace,  that  God  is  your  friend,  your 
reconciled  Father;  that  when  days  and  months  are 
no  more,  you  may  enter  into  the  region  of  everlast- 
ing light  and  peace. 

But  I  proceed  to  the  last  general  remark.  '  Learn 
the  unspeakable  happiness  of  those  who  have  im- 
proved time  well,  and  who  wait  for  the  end  of  time 
with  Christian  hope.'  They  are  not  afraid,  or  at 
least  they  need  not  be  afraid  of  the  sentence,  nor  the 
oath  of  this  mighty  angel,  when  he  lifts  up  his  hand 
to  heaven,  and  swears  with  a  loud  voice,  *  There  shall 
be  time  no  more,' 

O  blessed  creatures,  who  have  so  happily  improv- 
ed the  time  of  life  and  day  of  grace,  as  to  obtain  the 
restoration  of  the  image  of  God,  in  some  degree,  on 


DISCOURSE  I.  THE  ENt)  Or  TIME.  -115 

their  souls,  and  to  recover  the  favour  of  God  through  • 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  for  which  end  time  was  bestow- 
ed upon  them :  They  have  reviewed  their  follies  with 
shame  in  the  land  of  hope ;  they  have  mourned  and 
repented  of  sin  ere  the  season  of  repentance  was  past, 
and  are  become  new  creatures,  and  their  lips  and 
their  lives  declare  the  divine  change.  They  have 
made  preparation  for  death,  for  which  purpose  life 
and  time  were  given.  Happy  souls  indeed,  who 
have  so  valued  time  as  not  to  let  it  run  off  in  trifles; 
but  have  obtained  treasures  more  valuable  than  that 
time  which  is  gone,  even  the  riches  of  the  covenant 
of  grace,  and  the  hopes  of  an  eternal  inheritance  in 
glory. 

Happy  such  souls  indeed  when  time  is  no  more 
with  them  !  Their  happiness  begins  when  the  dura- 
tion of  their  mortal  life  is  finished.  Let  us  survey 
this  their  happiness  in  a  few  particulars. 

The  time  of  their  '  darknesses  and  difficulties'  is  no 
longer:  The  time  of  painful  ignorance  and  error  is 
Gome  to  an  end :  You  shall  wander  no  more  in  mis- 
take and  folly :  You  shall  behold  all  things  in  the 
light  of  God,  and  see  him  face  to  face,  who  is  the 
original  beauty  and  the  eternal  truth.  You  shall  see 
him  without  vails  and  shadows,  without  the  reflecting 
glass  of  his  word  and  ordinances,  which  at  best  give 
us  but  a  faint  glimpse  of  him,  either  in  his  nature  or 
wisdom,  his  power  or  goodness.  You  shall  see  him 
in  himself  and  in  his  son  Jesus,  the  brightest  and 
fairest  image  of  the  Father,  and  *  shall  know  him  as 
you  are  known.'     1  Cor,  xiii.  10,  12. 


116  THE  END  OF  TIIUE.  DISCOURSE  f« 

There  Is  no  more  time  for  '  temptation  and  dan-' 
ger:'  when  once  you  are  got  beyond  the  limits  of 
this  visible  world,  andall  the  enticing  objects  of  flesh 
and  sense,  there  shall  be  no  more  hazard  of  your  sal- 
vation, no  more  doubting  and  distressing  fears  about 
your  interest  in  your  Father's  love,  or  in  the  salva* 
tion  of  his  beloved  Son. 

There  is  no  more  time  nor  place  for  *  sin  to  inhabit 
in  you;'  The  lease  of  its  habitation  in  your  mortal 
body  must  end,  when  the  body  itself  falls  into  the 
dust :  you  shall  feel  no  more  of  its  powerful  and  dc» 
fihng  operations  either  in  heart  or  life  for  ever. 

The  time  of  *  conflict  with  your  spiritual  adversa. 
ries  is  no  longer.'  There  is  no  more  warfare  betwixt 
the  flesh  and  spirit,  no  more  combat  with  the  world 
and  i  he  devil,  who,  by  a  thousand  ways  have  attempt^ 
ed  to  deceive  you,  and  to  bear  you  off"  from  your 
heavenly  hope.  Your  warfare  is  accomplished,  your 
victory  is  complete,  you  are  made  overcomers 
through  him  that  has  loved  you.  Death  is  the  last 
enemy  to  be  overcome ;  the  sting  of  it  is  already 
taken  away,  and  you  have  now  finished  the  conquest^ 
and  are  assured  of  the  crown.     1  Cor.  xv.  56,  57. 

The  time  of  your  *  distance  and  absence  from 
God  is  no  more:*  The  time  of  coldness  and  indiffer- 
ence,  and  the  fearful  danger  of  backslidings,  is  no 
more:  You  sh^ll  be  made  as  'pillars  in  the  temple 
of  your  God,  and  shall  go  no  more  out:'  He  shall 
love  you  like  a  God,  and  kindle  the  flames  of  your 
love  to  so  intense  a  degree,  as  is  only  known  to  angels 
and  to  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect. 


~^:>ISCOURSE  T.  -THE  END  OF  TIME.  117 

'  There  is  no  more  time  for  you  to  be  vexed  with 
the  '  society  of  sinful  creatures  :'  Your  spirit  within 
you  shall  be  no  more  ruffled  and  disquieted  with  the 
teazins:  conversation  of  the  wicked,  nor  shall  vou  be 
interrupted  in  your  holy  and  heavenly  exercises  by 
any  of  the  enemies  of  God  and  his  grace. 

The  time  of  your  '  painful  labours  and  sufferings 
is  no  more.'  Rev.  xiv.  13.  ''Blessed  are  the  dead 
that  die  in  the  Lord,  for  they  rest  from  all  their  la- 
bours" that  carry  toil  or  fatigue  with  them  :  '  There 
shall  be  no  more'  complaints  nor  groans,  '  no  sorrov/ 
or  crying  ;'  the  springs  of  grief  are  for  ever  dried  up, 
'  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain'  in  the  flesh  or 
the  spirit.  '*  God  shall  wipe  aw^ay  all  tears  from 
your  eyes,  and  death  shall  be  no  more."  Rev.  xxi. 
4. 

''It  is  finished,"  said  our  blessed  Lord  on  the 
cross  :  '  It  is  finished,'  may  every  one  of  his  followers 
say  at  the  hour  of  death,  and  at  the  end  of  time  : 
My  sins  and  follies,  my  distresses  and  my  sufferings^ 
are  finished  for  ever,  and  the  mighty  angel  swears  to 
it,  that  the  ti??2e  of  those  evils  is  no  longer  :  They  are 
vanished,  and  shall  never  return.  O  happy  souls,  who 
have  been  so  wise  to  count  the  short  and  uncertain 
number  of  your  days  on  earth,  as  to  m.ake  an  early  pro- 
vision for  a  removal  to  heaven.  Blest  are  you  above 
all  the  powers  of  present  thought  and  language. 
Days,  and  months,  and  years,  and  all  these  short  and 
painful  periods  of  time,  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  a 
long  and  blissful  eternity  ;  the  stream  of  time  which 
has  run  between  the  banks  of  this  mortal  life,   and 


il«  THE  END  OF  TI^lE.  PISCOURSE  3. 

bore  you  along  amidst  many  dangerous  rocks  of 
temptation,  fear  and  sorrow,  shall  launch  you  out 
into  the  ocean  of  pleasures  which  have  no  period: 
Those  felicities  must  be  everlasting,  for  duration  has 
no  limit  there,  Time^  with  all  its  measures,  shall  be 
no  more*    Amen. 


DISCOURSE  11. 

THE  WATCHFUL   CHRISTIAN   DYING   IN  PEACE, 

OCCASIONED 

BY  THE  DECEASE  OF  MRS.  SARAH  ABNEY, 

Daughter  of  the  late  Sh'  Thomas  Abney,  Knt.  &c. 
Preached  April  2, 1732. 


Dedicated  to  the  Lady  Abney,  Mother  of  the  deceas- 
edy  and  to  Mrs.  Mary  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Abney,  her  two  surviving  Sisters. 

Madam, 

IF  sorrows  could  be  diminished  in  proportion  to 
the  multitude  of  those  who  share  in  them,  the  spring 
of  your  tears  would  have  been  drawn  almost  dry, 
and  the  tide  of  grief  have  sunk  low,  by  being  divid- 
ed into  a  thousand  streams.  But  though  this  cannot 
afford  perfect  relief  to  your  Ladyship,  yet  it  must  be 
some  consolation  to  have  been  blessed  with  a  daugh- 
ter, whose  removal  from  our  world  could  give  occa- 
sion for  so  general  a  mourning. 

I  confess,  Madam,  the  wound  which  was  made  by 
such  a  smarting  stroke  is  not  to  be  healed  in  a  day 
or  two,  reason  permits  some  risings  of  the  softer  and 
kinder  passions  in  such  a  season;  it  shews  at  least 
that  our  hearts  are  not  marble,  and  reveals  the  tender 


liJO  THE  DEDICATION. 

ingredients  that  are  moulded  up  in  our  frame  ;  nor 
does  religion  permit  us  to  be  insensible  when  a  God 
afflicts,  though  he  doth  it  with  the  hand  of  a  father 
and  a  friend.  Nature  and  love  are  full  of  these  sen- 
sibilities, and  incline  you  to  miss  her  presence  in 
every  place  where  she  was  wont  to  attend  you,  and 
where  you  rejoiced  in  her  as  one  of  your  dearest 
blessings.  She  is  taken  away  indeed  from  mortal 
sight,  and  to  follow  her  remains  to  the  grave,  and 
to  dwell  there,  gives  but  a  dark  and  melancholy  view, 
till  the  great  rising-day.  Faith  may  ken  the  distant 
prospect,  and  exult  in  the  sight  of  that  glorious  futu- 
rity;  yet  I  think  there  is  also  a  nearer  relief,  Madam, 
to  your  sorrows.  By  the  virtues  vi^hich  shone  in  her 
life,  you  may  trace  the  ascent  of  her  spirit  to  the 
world  of  immortality  and  joy.  Could  your  Ladyship 
keep  the  eye  of  your  soul  directed  thither,  you  would 
find  it  an  eifectual  balm  for  a  heart  that  bleeds  at  the 
painful  remembrance  of  her  death.  What  could 
your  Ladyship  have  asked  as  a  higher  favour  of  hea- 
ven, than  to  have  born  and  trained  up  a  child  for  that 
glorious  inheritance,  and  to  have  her  secured  of  the 
possession  beyond  all  possible  fear  or  danger  of  los- 
ing it. 

This,  Madam,  is  your  own  divinest  hope  for  your- 
self, and  you  are  hastening  on  toward  that  blessed  so- 
ciety as  fast  as  days  and  hours  give  leave.  When  your 
thoughts  descend  to  this  lower  world  again,  there  are 
two  living  comforts  near  you  of  the  same  kind  with 
what  you  have  lost:  May  your  Ladyship  rejoice  in 
them  yet  many  years,  and  they  in  you !  And  when 
Jesus,  who  hath  the  keys  of  death  and  the  invisible 


THE  DEDICATION-.  I2l 

state,  shall  appoint  the  hour  for  your  ascent  to  hea- 
ven,  may  you  leave  them  behind  to  bless  the  world 
with  fair  examples  of  virtue  and  piety  among  men, 
and  a  long  train  of  services  for  the  interest  of  their 
Redeemer. 

If  I  were  to  say  any  thing,  Young  Ladies,  to  you  in 
particular,  it  should  be  in  the  language  of  our  Savi- 
our, and  his  beloved  Apostle,  "Hold  fast  what  you 
have  till  the  Lord  comes,  that  none  may  cleprhe  you 
of  your  crown.  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  that  you 
lose  not  the  things  which  you  have  wrought,  but  that 
ye  receive  a  full  reward."  Go  on  and  persevere  as 
you  have  begun,  in  the  path  of  true  religion  and  hap- 
piness :  And  in  this  age  of  infidelity  and  degenerate 
life,  be  ye  daily  more  established  in  the  Christian  faith 
and  practice,  in  opposition  to  the  smiles  and  frowns, 
and  every  snare  of  a  vain  delusive  world.  Let  this 
one  thought  set  a  double  guard  upon  you,  that  while 
your  elder  sister  was  with  you,  it  Was  something 
easier  to  resist  every  temptation,  when  she  had  pro- 
nounced the  first  refusal :  Her  steadiness  was  a  guard 
which  you  have  now  lost,  but  you  have  an  Almighty 
God  in  covenant  on  your  side,  and  the  '<  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  is  sufficient  for  you," 

To  his  care,  My  Lady,  I  commend  yourself,  and 
your  whole  family,  with  affectionate  petitions:  And 
am, 

Madam, 

Tour  Ladyships s  most  obliged 

and  faithful  Scri^ant^ 

I.  WATTS. 

London,  April  26,  1732. 


THE 

WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN  DYING  IN  PEACE. 

A  FUNERAL  SERMON,  &c, 

IT  is  an  awful  providence  which  hath  lately  re- 
moved from  among  us  a  young  person  well  known  to 
most  of  you,  whose  agreeable  temper  and  conduct 
had  gained  the  esteem  of  all  her  acquaintance,  whose 
constitution  of  body,  together  with  the  furniture  of 
her  mind,  and  circumstances  in  the  world,  concur- 
red to  promise  many  future  years  of  life  and  useful- 
ness. But  all  that  is  born  of  the  race  of  man  is  frail 
and  mortal,  and  all  that  is  done  by  the  hand  of  God 
is  wise  and  holy.  We  mourn,  and  we  submit  in  si- 
lence. Yet  the  providence  hath  a  voice  in  it,  and 
the  friends  of  the  deceased  are  very  solicitous  that 
such  an  unexpected  and  instructive  appearance  of 
deaih,  might  be  religiously  improved  to  the  benefit 
of  the  living.  For  this  end  I  am  desired  to  entertain 
you  at  present  with  some  meditations  on  those  words 
of  our  Saviour,  which  you  read  in 

Luke  xii.  37. 

Blessed  are  these  ser'va?its,  wbom  the  Lord,   when  he 
Cometh^  shall  find  watching, ^ 

VARIOUS   and   well  chosen  are  those  parables 
V  hereby  our  Saviour  gave  warning  to  his  disciples, 


BISCOURSK  II.      THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAK,  &C.  12^ 

that  when  he  was  departed  from  this  world  they 
should  ever  be  upon  their  guard,  and  always  in  a  rea- 
diness to  receive  him  at  his  return  :  Because  he 
would  come  on  a  sudden,  and  ''  in  such  an  hour  as 
they  thought  not,"  to  demand  an  account  of  their  be- 
haviour, and  to  distribute  his  recompences  according 
to  their  works.  There  are  two  of  these  parables  in 
this  chapter  :  But  to  enter  into  a  detail  of  all  the  par- 
ticular metaphors  which  relate  to  this  one,  whence  I 
have  borrowed  my  text,  would  be  too  tedious  here, 
and  would  spend  too  much  of  the  present  hour. 
Without  any  longer  preface  therefore,  I  shall  apply 
myself  to  improve  the  words  to  our  spiritual  profit 
in  the  following  method. 

I.  I  shall  enquire  what  is  meant  by  the  *  coming  of 
Christ'  in  the  text,  and  how  it  may  be  properly- 
applied  to  our  present  purpose,  or  the  *  hour  of 
death.' 

II.  I  shall  consider  what  is  implied  in  the  ivatchfiiU 
ness  which  our  Saviour  recommends. 

III.  1  propose  some  considerations  which  will  dis- 
cover the  '  blessedness  of  the  watchful  soul'  in  a 
dying  hour. 

IV.  I  shall  add  some  practical  remarks. 

Firsts  Let  us  enquire  W' hat  is  meant  by  the  '  com- 
ing of  Christ'  in  my  text. 

The  *  coming  of  Christ,'  in  some  of  these  parables, 
may  have  reference  to  his  speedy  appearance  in  the 
course  of  his  providence  in  that  very  age,  to  judge 


124-  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN     DISCOURSE  II. 

and  punish  the  Jewish  nation,  to  destroy  their  city, 
and  put  an  end  to  their  church  and  state,  for  their 
many  heinous  iniquities,  and  the  most  provoking 
crime  of  rejecting  and  crucifying  the  Son  of  God. 
But  these  words,  in  their  supreme  and  most  impor- 
tant sense,  always  point  to  the  '  glorious  appearance 
of  Christ  at  the  last  day,'  when  he  shall  come  to  shut 
up  all  the  scenes  of  this  frail  life,  to  put  an  end  to  the 
present  world,  to  finish  all  the  works  of  this  mortal 
state,  and  to  decide  and  determine  the  eternal  states 
of  all  mankind  by  the  general  judgment. 

Yet  *  Christ  comes'  to  each  of  us  in  *  the  hour  of 
death'  also,  for  *  he  hath  the  keys  of  death  and  of 
hell,'  or  of  the  invisible  world,  Rev.  i.  18.  It  is  he 
who  appoints  the  very  moment  when  the  soul  shall 
be  dismissed  from  this  flesh,  he  opens  the  doors  of 
the  grave  for  the  dying  body ;  and  he  is  Lord  of  the 
world  of  spirits,  and  lets  in  new  inhabitants  every 
minute  into  those  unseen  regions  of  immortal  soir- 
row,  or  immortal  peace. 

And  as  Christ  may  be  said  to  *  come  to  us'  by  the 
message  or  '  summons  of  death,'  so  the  many  solemn 
writings  and  commands  o^ivatchfuhiess,  which  attend 
these  parables  of  Christ,  have  been  usually,  and  with 
good  reason,  applied  to  the  *  hour  of  death'  also,  for 
then  the  Lord  comes  *  to  shut  up  the  scene  of  ^  each 
of  our  Ihes,  our  '  works  are  then  finished,'  our  '  last 
day  is  come,'  and  the  *  world  is  then  at  an  end'  with 
us. 

Let  it  be  observed  also,  that  there  is  a  further  pa- 
rallel between  the  day  of  the  «  general  judgment,'  and 


DISCOURSE  II.  DYING  IN  PEACE.  125 

that  of  'our  own  death:'  The  one  will  as  certahily 
come  as  the  other,  but  the  time  when  Christ  will 
come  in  either  of  these  senses,  is  unknown  to  us  and 
uncertain:  And  it  is  this,  which  renders  the  duty  of 
perpetual  watchfulness  so  necessary  to  all  men.  The 
parable  assures  us,  that  our  Lord  will  certainly  come, 
but  whether  at  the  *  second  or  third  watch,'  whether 
at  'midnight,  or  at  cock-crowing,  or  near  the  morn- 
ing,' this  is  all  uncertainty ;  yet  whensoever  he  comes, 
he  expects  we  should  'have  our  loins  girded,' like 
servants  fit  for  business,  '  and  our  lamps  burning,' 
to  attend  him  at  the  door,  and  that  we  '  be  ready  to 
receive  him  as  soon  as  he  knocks.' 

Were  the  appointed  hourof  judgment,  or  of  death, 
made  known  to  us  for  months  or  years  before-hand, 
we  should  be  ready  to  think  constant  watchfiihzess^  a 
very  needless  thing.  Mankind  would  persuade  them- 
selves to  indulge  their  foolish  and  sinful  slumbers, 
and  only  take  care  to  rub  their  eyes  a  little,  and  be- 
stir themselves  an  hour  or  two  before  this  awful 
event:  But  it  is  the  suddenness  and  uncertainty  of 
the  coming  of  Christ  to  all  mankind,  for  either  of 
these  purposes,  that  extends  the  charge  of  Vw'atchful- 
ness  to  all  men  as  well  as  to  the  Aposdes,  Mark  xiii. 
57.  and  that  calls  upon  us  aloud  to  keep  our  souls 
ever  awake,  '  lest  (as  our  Lord  there  expresses  it,) 
coming  suddenly  he  should  find  us  sleeping.'  And 
remember  this,  that  if  we  are  unprepared  to  meet  the 
Lord  at  death,  we  can  never  be  ready  when  he  comes 
to  judgment ;  peace  and  blessedness  attend  the  watch- 
ful Christian,  whensoever  his  Lord  cometh.   "  Bless- 

I? 


126  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN        DISCOURSE  U* 

ed  is  that  servant,  whom,  when  his  Lord  comes,  he 
shall  find  watchnig."  This  leads  me  to  the  second 
general  head. 

Secondly^  What  is  implied  in  ivatchfiilncss  ? 

Ans%v.  In  general,  it  is  opposed  to  sleeping^  as  I 
have  already  hinted,  in  Mark  xiii.  2^5^  36.  And  in 
the  language  of  Scripture,  as  uell  as  in  common 
speech,  sleep  and  slumbering,  denote  an  unprepared- 
ness  to  receive  whatever  comes,  for  this  is  the  case 
with  those  who  are  asleep:  On  the  other  hand,  "watch- 
fidness  is  a  preparation  and  readiness  for  every  event, 
and  so  it  is  expressed  in  some  of  these  parables,  ver. 
40.  '*  Be  ye  theiefore  reaXiy."  But  to  enter  into  a 
few  particulars. 

1.  There  io  a  ''  sleep  of  death,"  Psal.  xiii.  3.  Spi. 
ritual  death  as  v/ell  as  natural,  is  sometimes  called  iz 
sleep.  Such  is  the  case  of  a  soul  **  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins,"  Eph.  v.  14.  compared  with  ii.  1.  '*  Awake 
thou  that  sleepest  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ 
shall  give  thee  lighi." 

Watchfylness  therefore  implies  life^  a  principle  of 
spiritual  life  in  the  soul:  Surely  those  who  are  dead 
in  sins  arc  not  prepared  to  receive  their  Lord:  He  is 
a  perfect  stranger  to  them,  they  know  him  not,  they 
love  hiru  not,  they  obey  him  not;  and  a  terrible 
stranger  he  will  be,  if  he  comes  upon  them  before 
they  are  awake.  But  those  who  are  awakened  by 
divine  grace  into  a  spiritual  life,  have  seen  something 
of  ''  the  glory  of  God  in  the  fiice  of  Jesus  Christ," 
they  are  acquainted  with  tlieir  Lord,  they  love  him, 
and  have  some  degree  of  preparation  to  meet  their 


DISCOURSE  TI.  DYING   IN  PK  ACE.  127 

Saviour  when  he  summons  them  to  leave  this  world. 
This  is  therefore  a  matter  of  highest  consequence, 
that  we  awake  from  a  state  of  sin  and  death,  that  we 
be  made  alive  to  God,  begin  the  Christian  life,  and 
set  upon  religion  in  good  earnest,  according  to  tlie 
rules  of  the  gpspel,  before  Christ  call  us  away.  It 
is  only  this  divine  life  begun  in  us,  that  can  secure 
us  from  eternal  death;  though  even  Christians  may 
be  found  slumbering  in  other  respects,  and  expose 
themselves  to  painful  evils,  if  that  hour  surprise  them 
at  unawares. 

2.  There  is  *  a  sleep  of  indolence  and  thoughtless- 
ness:' When  a  man  is  insensible  of  his  own  circum- 
stances, and  too  careless  of  the  things  which  most 
concern  him,  w^e  say,  'the  man  is  asleep.'  Such  a 
sleep  seems  to  be  upon  the  church  of  Israel,  Isa. 
xxix.  10.  ''  a  spirit  of  deep  sleej>,"  when  the  law 
which  contained  the  great  things  of  God,  and  their  sal- 
vation, was  to  them  *  as  a  sealed  book,'  they  read  it 
not,  their  eyes  were  closed,  their  spiritual  senses 
were  bound  up.  Many  a  Christian  who  hath  been 
raised  from  a  death  in  sin,  has  been  seized  with  this 
criminal  slumber,  and  has  had  the  image  of  death 
come  again  upon'^him:  He  has  grown  too  careless 
and  unconcerned  about  his  most  important  and  eter- 
nal affairs;  and  in  this  temper  he  hardly  knows  Vvhat 
his  state  is  toward  God,  nor  keeps  up  a  lively  sense 
or  notice  of  divine  and  eternal  things  upon  his  spirit. 

Watchfulness  in  opposition  to  this  sleeps  implies  a 
holy  solicitude  and  diligence,  to  know  our  own  spi- 
ritual state;  a  consciousness  of  what  we  are;  a  keep- 


128  THE  WATCHrUL  CHRISTIAN      .DISCOURSE  II. 

ing  all  the  spiritual  senses  in  proper  exercise,  and 
maintaining  a  lively  perception  of  divine  things.  It 
implies  an  acute,  painful  sense  of  indwelling  sin,  and 
the  irregular  propensities  of  the  heart,  a  delightful 
relish  of  heavenly  objects,  frequent  thoughts  of  death 
and  eternity,  constant  waiting  for  those  awful  events, 
with  a  quick  apprehep.-ion  and  resentment  of  all 
things,  that  help  or  hinder  the  spiritual  life.  This 
is  the  character  of  a  wakeful  Christian,  and  such  an 
one  as  is  ready  to  receive  his  returning  Lord. 

3.  There  is  a  '  sleep  of  security  and  foolibh  peace,' 
when  a  person  is  not  apprehensive  of  imminent  dan- 
ger, and  is  much  unguarded  against  it.  Such  was 
the  sleep  of  Jonah  in  the  storm,  of  Sampson  on  the 
lap  nf  Delilah,  when  the  Philistines  were  upon  him, 
and  of  the  disciples  when  Judas  and  the  band  of  sol- 
diers were  just  ready  to  seize  their  Master.  This  is 
the  case  of  many  a  slumbering  Christian;  he  is  not 
upon  hib  guard  against  his  ijiward  lusts  and  passi- 
ons, nor  against  those  outward  temptations  and  pe- 
rils to  which  he  is  continually  exposed,  while  he 
dwells  in  flesh  and  blood. 

IFatchfulness  in  this  respect  is,  when  a  Christian 
hath  his  eyes  open,  and  turns  them  round  on  every 
side  to  foresee  approaching  evil,  and  prevent  it ; 
when  he  is  prepared  for  every  assault  of  every  adver- 
sary, whether  sin  or  the  world,  whether  death  or  the 
devil;  he  hath  his  spiritual  armour  girt  upon  him, 
and  is  ready  for  the  combat.  He  is  every  hour  guard- 
ed against  the  powers  of  the  flesh,  and  watching 
against  its  allurements  and  attractions,  lest  he  be  de^ 


DISCOURSE  ir.  I>YING  IN  PEACE.  129 

filed  thereby,  and  unfit  to  meet  his  returning  Lord  : 
He  is  daily  loosening  his  heart  from  all  sensual  at- 
tachments,  and  weaning  himself  from  the  world  and 
creatures,  because  he  knows  he  must  quickly  take  his 
long  farewel,  and  part  with  them  all,  at  the  call  and 
appointment  of  his  great  Master.  He  is  like  a  centi- 
nel  upon  his  watch-tower,  ever  awake,  because  dan- 
gers stand  thick  around  him. 

4.  There  is  a  '  sleep  of  sloth  and  inactivity,'  Prov. 
xix.  15.  "  Slothfulness  casts  into  a  deep  sleep."  *A 
little  more  sleep,  a  little  more  slumber,'  saith  the  la- 
zy Christian,  who  'turns  upon  his  bed,  as  the  door 
upon  its  hinges,'  and  makes  no  progress  or  advance 
in  his  way  to  heaven.  We  are  sleepy  Christians  wheii 
we  do  little  for  God,  or  our  own  souls,  in  compari- 
son of  the  vast  w^ork,  and  important  varieties  of  duty 
that  lie  upon  us  :  When  our  zeal  is  cold,  and  our 
efforts  of  service  slight  and  feeble  :  When  the  light 
of  grace  shines  so  dim,  and  the  spark  of  holiness  is  so 
covered  with  ashes,  that  it  is  hard  to  say,  Vv'hether  it 
burn  or  no.  As  in  natural  things,  so  in  spiritual)  it 
is  a  difficult  matter  sometimes  to  distinguish  between 
a  dead  man,  and  a  lethargic  sleeper. 

Watchfulness  in  opposition  to  this  slumber,  is  a 
lively  and  vigorous  exercise  of  every  grace,  and  a  di- 
ligent attendance  on  every  duty,  both  toward  God 
and  man,  a  constant  converse  with  heaven  by  daily 
devotion,  an  active  zeal  for  God  in  the  world,  a  steady 
faith  in  the  promises,  a  joyful  hope  of  heavenly  bless- 
edness, a  longing  expectation  of  the  returning  Sijvi- 
our,  which  makes  the  soul  stretch  out  the  wings  of 


150  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN      DISCOURSE  II* 

desire  and  joy,  as  though  it  were  going  forth  to  meet 
him.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  Apostle  Peter's 
expression,  2  Pet.  iii.  12.  ''  Looking  for,  and  hasten- 
ing to  the  coYning  of  the  day  of  God.'' 

Put  all  these  things  together  now,  and  they  make 
up  the  character  of  a  *  watchful  Christian  :'  He  is 
awake  from  the  sleep  of  death,  and  made  spiritually 
alive  ;  he  hath  the  work  of  vital  religion  begun  in  his 
heart. 

He  is  awake  from  the  sleep  of  *  thoughtlessness 
and  indolence  ;  he  is  solicitous  to  know  his  own 
state,  and  hath  good  hope  through  grace  ;  he  lives  in 
the  view  of  heavenly  things,  and  keeps  his  eye  open 
to  future  and  eternal  glories. 

.  He  is  awake  from  the  sleep  of  security,  he  is  upon 
his  guard  against  every  danger,  and  ready  to  receive 
every  alarm. 

He-is  awake  from  the  sleep  of  slothfulncss,  and  is 
active  in  the  pursuit  of  the  glory  of  his  God,  and  his 
own  eternal  interest,  and  still  •  pressing  toward  the 
mark  to  obtain  the  prize.'  This  is  the  soul  that  is 
ready  to  meet  a  returning  Saviour,  and  to  receive  his 
Lord  when  he  comes,  either  at  the  hour  of  death,  or 
to  the  general  judgment. 

Thirdly,  Let  me  propose  some  special  considera- 
tions ^^  hich  discover  '  the  blessedness  of  the  watch- 
ful-Christian  at  the  hour  of  death. 

1.  Cons'uL  That  moment  dispossesses  us  of  every 
enjoyment  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  divides  us  from  the 
commerce  of  this  visible  world  ;  but  *  the  Wijkeful 
Christian  is  happy,  for  he  is  ready  to  be  thus  divided 


DISCOURSE  II.  DYING  IN  PEACE.  131 

and  dispossessed.'     Death  breaks  the   band  at  once 
between  us,  and  all  the   sensible  things  round  about 
us,  by  dissolving  the  frame  of  this  body,  which  had 
united  us  to  them  ;   and  the  watchful  saint  is  content 
to  have  that  bond  broken,   these  unions  dissolved. 
His  heart  and  soul  are  not  torn  away,  from  the  dear 
delights  of  ihis   mortal  state  with  that  pain,  anguish 
and  horror,  that  attends  the  sinner  when  death  sum- 
mons him  off  the  stage,   and  divides  him   from  his 
fleshly  idols.     The  Christian   hath  been  untying  his 
heart  by  degrees  from  the  dearest  delights  of  sense, 
and   disengaging    it  from   all   that   is    not    immor- 
tal :   With  holy  pleasure  he   can  bid  farewel  to  sun, 
moon,  and  stars,  and  to  all   things  which  their  light 
can  shew  him,  for  he  is  going  to  a  world  where  the 
Sun  of  righteousness  ever  shines  in  unclouded  glory, 
and  discovers  such  sights,  as  are  infinitely  superior 
to  all  that  the  eyes  of  flesh  can  behold ;   he  can  part 
with   friends  and  kindred   with   a  composed  spirit, 
for  he  is  going  to  meet  better  friends  and  diviner  kin- 
dred,  as  we   shall  shew  immediately  :   He  can  leave 
his  dying  flesh   behind   him,   and  commit  it  to  the 
dust,  in  joyful  hope  of  the  great  rising-day,   and  he 
hath  a  better  nuii.sion  at  piesent  provided  for  him  on 
hi.L^h  in  his  Father's  house,  while  he  lives  tar  separate 
from  all  earthly  dwellings,  2  Cor.  v.  1.   ''  We  know 
thcit  if  this  earthly  house  of  our  tabernacle  be  dissol- 
ved, we  have  a  building  of  God  not  made  with  hands 
eternal  in  the  heavens." 

2.  Consid,  The  moment  of  death  finishes  our  state 
of  trial,  and  fixes  us  unchangeably  in  the  state  of  sin 


132  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN       DISCOURSE  II. 

or  holiness,  in  which  we  are  then  found  ;  and  '  bles- 
sed is  the  vvatchfijl  Christian,  for  he  is  prepared  to 
have  his  trial  thus  ended,  and  his  state  thus  fixed  and 
made  unchangeable/  ''  As  the  tree  falls,  so  it  lies.'* 
Eccles.  xi.  10.  *' whether  to  the  north,  or  the  south  :" 
As  the  soul  parts  from  the  body,  so  it  remains,  whe- 
ther fitted  for  heaven  or  hell.  It  is  therefore  a  mat- 
ter of  the  last  importance  to  be  prepared  and  ready 
for  such  an  eternal  sentence,  and  unchangeable  deter- 
mination. Were  any  of  us  to  be  surprised  some 
moment  this  day,  and  forced  to  continue  all  our  lives, 
in  that  very  posture  of  body,  in  which  we  are  then 
found,  should  we  not  be  awake,  and  keep  ourselves 
in  the  most  natural  and  easy  gestures  all  that  day, 
lest  we  be  seized  at  once,  and  fixed  in  some  distort- 
ed, painful,  and  uneasy  situation,  all  our  months  and 
years  to  come?  Or  if  we  were  to  be  bound  down  to  one 
sini^le  thought,  or  passion,  all  the  remnant  of  our  life, 
in  which  we  were  found  in  any  uncertain  minute  in 
this  hour,  should  we  not  watch  with  utmost  care,  and 
guard  against  ^vcry  unpleasing  thought,  and  every 
fretful  and  vexing  passion,  lest  it  should  be  fixed  up- 
on us  till  we  die  ? 

Now  this  is  the  case  at  death  :  The  Almighty 
voice  of  God  then  pronounces,  **  he  that  is  unclean 
and  unholy  must  for  ever  be  unholy  and  unclean,  but 
he  that  is  righteous  let  him  be  righteous  still,  and  he 
that  is  holy  shall  be  for  ever  holy."  Rev.  xxii.  11. 
I  will  not  ptecisel}  determine  that  this  is  the  sense 
of  that  text,  yet  since  the  Apostle  speaks  there  con- 
cerning the  coming  of  Christ,  it  may  be  very  appli- 


DISCOURSE  II.  DYING  IN  PEACE.  133 

cable  to  the  present  case.  Now,  how  dreadful  so-» 
ever  this  thought  is  to  a  guilty  sinful  creature,  it  is 
no  terror  to  a  wakeful  Christian  :  He  is  ready  to 
have  these  words  pronounced  from  heaven,  for  they 
will  establish  him  in  eternal  holiness  and  eternal 
peace  :  He  hath  endeavoured  to  secure  to  himself  an 
interest  in  the  love  of  God,  through  the  faith  and  love 
of  Jesus  the  blessed  Mediator,  and  at  death  he  is  fix- 
ed for  ever  in  their  love.  He  hath  loved  God  in  time, 
and  in  this  visible  world,  and  there  is  nothing  in  all 
the  unseen  worlds,  nothing  through  all  the  ages  of 
eternity,  shall  ever  separate  him  from  the  love  of  God 
in  Christ  Jesus.  The  moment  of  death  hath  fixed 
him  for  ever  a  holy  and  beloved  soul,  beyond  the 
power  of  creatures  to  change  his  temper,  or  his 
state.  This  is  the  blessedness  of  the  watchful  Chris* 
tian. 

3.  Consid,  Death  sets  us  in  a  more  immediate  and 
sensible  manner  in  the  presence  of  God,  a  glorious 
and  holy  God,  God  the  Judge  of  all ;  and  '  blessed 
is  the  watchful  Christian,  for  he  is  willing  to  stand 
before  this  God,  to  be  brought  into  his  presence:' 
This  is  wh^t  he  hath  longed  and  prayed  for,  to  be  for 
ever  with  God.  It  is  the  blessedness  that  he  hath 
sought  with  incessant  labours  and  tears,  with  holy 
diligence,  and  daily  devotion,  and  blessed  is  the 
*'  pure  in  heart,"  who  hath  watched  against  the  pollu- 
tions of  the  world,  *'for  he  shall  see  God,"  Matth. 
v.  8. 

It  is  certain,  that  when  the  soul  departs  from  the 
body,  *'  it  returns  to  God  who  gave  it,"  Ecclcs.  xii. 


134-  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN       DISCOURSE  II. 

7.  And  probably  to  God  as  a  Judge  too,  Heb.  ix. 
27.  **  After  death  judgment."  There  is  some  sort 
of  determination  of  the  state  of  each  single  person  at 
death,  before  the  great  and  general  judgment-day, 
because  that  day  is  appointed  rather  for  the  public 
vindication  of  the  equity  of  God  in  his  distribution 
of  rewards  and  punishments,  and  is  particularly  put 
into  the  hands  of  our  Lord  Jesus  :  Now,  since  the 
separate  soul  returns  to  God  who  gave  it,  it  is  of  vast 
importance  that  we  be  then  prepared  to  come  before 
him. 

Some  of  us  here  would  be  mightily  afraid  of  ap- 
pearing before  a  prince,  or  a  great  and  honourable 
person  in  an  undress ;  but  for  our  souls  in  a  naked 
state,  or  in  a  garment  of  sinful  pollution,  to  be  sur- 
prised by  the  great  and  holy  God,  to  be  set  on  a  sud- 
den in  his  presence,  what  terror  is  contained  in  this 
thought !  Now  the  *  watchful  Christian  hath  this 
blessedness,'  that  he  is  washed  from  his  defilements 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  *'he  is  clothed  with  the 
robe  of  righteousness,  and  the  gcirments  of  salva- 
tion." Isa.  Ixi.  10.  He  is  prepared  to  appear  be- 
fore a  God  of  infinite  holiness  without  terror,  for  he 
is  made  like  him,  he  bears  his  image,  he  appears 
as  one  of  his  children,  and  he  is  not  afraid  to  see  his 
Father. 

However  some  commentators  may  confine  and  im- 
poverish the  sense  of  David  in  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth Psalm,  yet  I  am  persuaded  the  Spirit  of  God 
in  him  designed  to  express  his  faith  and  jcy,  either 
at  the  hour  of  death,  or  in  the  morning  of  the  resur- 


DISCOURSE  II.  DYING  IN  PEACE.  135 

rection,  **  I  shall  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness,  I 
shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  with  thy  likeness  :" 
When  the  Psalmist  had  described  what  were  the  sa- 
tisfactions of  the  men  of  this  world  in  death,  ver.  14. 
viz.  that  they  had  filled  their  houses  with  children, 
and  leave  their  substance  or  riches  to  them,  he  then 
declares,  what  was  his  support  and  hope  in  his  dy- 
ing hour,  As  for  me,  saith  he,  I  have  other  views: 
I  am  not  afraid,  O  my  God,  to  appear  before  thee 
in  the  other  world,  for  I  shall  see  thy  face,  not  as  a 
criminal,  but  as  a  person  approved  and  accepted,  and 
righteous  in  thy  sight :  I  shall  awake  from  this  world 
of  dreams  and  shadows  into  thy  complete  image  and 
perfect  holiness  ;  or,  I  shall  awake  from  the  dust  of 
death,  and  shall  be  fully  satisfied  ;  and  rejoice  to  find 
myself  made  so  like  my  God,  and  to  dwell  for  ever 
in  his  presence. 

4.  Consicl.  It  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  lets  the 
soul  out  of  the  body,  for  he  *  hath  the  keys  of  death, 
and  of  the  unseen  world,'  and  *  blessed  is  the  watch- 
ful Christian,  who  waits  for  the  coming  of  his  Lord, 
for  he  can  meet  him  gladly,  when  fulfilling  this  part 
of  his  glorious  office.'  He  shall  be  introduced  by 
him  into  the  presence  of  God  his  Father,  and  shall 
receive  most  condescending  instances  of  mercy  from 
Christ  himself.  See  the  text,  Luke  xii.  06,  37. 
*'  Be  ye  yourselves  like  men  that  wait  for  the  Lord, 
that  when  he  cometh  and  knocketh,  ye  may  open  to 
him  immediately.  Blessed  are  those  servants,  whom 
the  Lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall  find  watching  : 
Verily  I  say  to  you,  he  shall  gird  himself,  and  make 


136  THE  WATCHFUL   CHRISTIAN       DISCOURSE  II. 

them  sit  down  to  meat,  and  come  forth  and  serve 
them."  He  shall  condescend,  as  it  were,  even  below 
the  office  of  a  steward,  he  shall  bring  out  the  heaven- 
ly  provisions  of  his  Father's  house,  and  make  them 
sit  down  in  his  kingdom,  and  give  them  divine  re- 
freshments after  their  labours  ;  he  shall  '  feed  them' 
as  a  shepherd,  shall  '  lead  them  to  living  fountains 
of  waters,'  and  aftord  them  his  presence  for  ever. 

The  watchful  Christian  is  blessed  indeed,  when 
he  shall  be  '  absent  from  the  body,  and  be  at  once 
present  with  the  Lord,'  2  Cor.  v.  8.  The  Lord  Je- 
sus vvhom  he  hath  seen  by  faith  in  his  gospel,  whose 
voice  he  hath  heard  in  his  word,  and  obeyed  it ;  Je- 
sus, whom  he  hath  touched  and  tasted  in  the  appoint- 
ied  emblems  of  his  supper  on  earth,  in  whom  he  hath 
believed  through  the  word  of  grace,  and  Vvhom  he 
hath  loved  before  he  saw  him,  shall  now  receive  him 
inio  his  presence,  and  the  disciple  shall  rejoice  for 
ever  to  meet  his  Lord,  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory. 

5.  Cofjsid,  At  the  hour  of  death  we  are  sent  at 
once  into  an  invisible  w^orld  ;  we  shall  find  ourselves 
in  the  midst  of  holy  or  of  unclean  spirits  ;  borne  away 
at  once  into  an  unknown  region,  and  into  the  midst 
of  unknown  inhabitants,  the  nations  of  the  saved,  or 
the  crouds  of  damned  souls ;  '  and  blessed  is  the 
watchful  Christian,  for  he  is  ready  to  enter  into  the 
vmseen  regions:'  He  knows  he  shall  not  be  placed 
among  those  whose  company  and  whose  character 
he  never  loved  here  on  earth  ;  '  his  soul  shall  not  be 
gatliered  with  sinners,'  nor  hjs  dwelling  be  *  with  the 


DISCOURSE   II.  •    DYING  IN   PEACE.  137 

workers  of  iniquity,'  but  with  the  *  saints,  the  excel- 
lent  in  the  earth,  in  whom  was  all  his  delii^ht.' 
Every  one  when  dismissed  from  the  prison  of  this 
body,  must  go  as  the  Aposdes  did,  when  released 
from  the  prison  at  Jerusalem,  '  must  go  to  their  own 
company,'  Acts  iv,  23.  Judas  the  traitor  '  went  to 
his  own  place,'  Acts  i.  25.  And  the  watchful  Chris- 
tian will  be  disposed  among  *  spirits  of  the  just  made 
perfect,'  he  will  find  himself  in  that  blessed  society, 
at  his  dismission  from  flesh  and  blood.  Read  and 
see  what  a  glorious  society  it  is,  Heb.  xii.  22,  23, 
*'  To  the  innumerable  company  of  angels,  the  gene- 
ral assembly  and  church  of  the  first-born,  who  are 
written  in  heaven,  to  God  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to 
the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  Jesus  the 
Mediator  of  the  new  covenant."  The  Apostle  say?, 
'  we  are  come  to  them'  already,  that  is,  by  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  as  administered  under  the  gospel ;  wc 
are  brought  into  a  blessed  union  with  them,  in  spi- 
rit, and  in  temper,  even  in  this  life  ;  we  are  members 
of  the  same  body,  we  are  united  to  the  same  head, 
and  made  parts  of  the  same  household,  though  we 
are  not  yet  brought  home  :  But  at  death  we  are  ac- 
tually present  with  them,  and  dwell  and  converse 
among  them  with  holy  familiarity,  as  citizens  of  the 
same  heavenly  Jerusalem,  as  parts  of  the  same  sacred 
family,  and  at  home,  as  children  of  the  same  God, 
and  in  their  Father's  house.  The  watchful  Christian 
is  at  once  carried  into  the  midst  of  the  blessed  world 
by  ministering  angels,  the  world  where   Abraham, 


iJ8  THE  WATCfilUL  CHRISTIAN       DISCOURSE  II. 

Isaac,  and  Jacob  dwell,  and  made  a  speedy  partaker 
of  their  blessedness,  Luke  xvi.  '22, 

6.  Consul.    Death  brings  with   it  a  most  amazing 
and  inconceivable  change  of  all  our  present  circum- 
stances and  thoughts,  our  actions  and  pursuits,   our 
sensations  and  enjoyments  ;   I  mean  all  those  that  re- 
late to  this   life  only,  such  as  eating,  drinking,  buy- 
ing, selling,  &c.    it  dislodges  us  from  these  bodies, 
and  thereby  finishes  all  those  affections,  concerns  and 
troubles,  which   belong  to  the  body,   and  sends   us 
into  another  sort  of  w^orld,   whose   affairs  and   con- 
cerns are   such  only,   as  belong  to  spirits,  wdiether 
sinful  or  holy  :   A  most  delightful,  or  a  most  dread- 
ful change  !    A  world  of  unknown  sorrows,  or  un- 
known happiness  !  Luke  xxiii.  43.  **This  day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  paradise.*'  Luke  xvi.  22.  ''  The 
rich  man  died,  and  in  hell  he  lift  up  his  eyes.*'  And 
indeed  the   change  is   so  vast,   that,    comparatively 
speaking,  we  know  not   what  sorrow,  or  happiness 
is,  till  this  day  comes.     Now  it  is  a  very  foolish  and 
dangerous   thing  at  best,  to   pass  into  such  an   ex- 
treme change  of  states,  infinitely  worse,  or  infinitely 
better,  while  we  are  asleep  and  at  all  uncertainties  ; 
What  if  it  should  be  the   miserable   state,   and  we 
should  awake  in  hell  ?  But  *the  watchful  Christian  is 
blessed,  for  he   is  ready  for   this   amazing  change.' 
He  hath  long  lived  upon  it  by  faith  and  hope,  though 
he  knows  not  so  well  what  the  particular  enjoyments 
of  heaven  are  ;  and  he  is  well  satisfied  that  he  is  pre- 
pared for  that  happy  world  by  God  himself.     2  Cor. 
V.  5.   ''He  that  hath  wrought  us  for  the  self- same 


DISCOURSE  It.  DYING  IN  PEACE.  139 

thiiii^  is  God :"  He  is  well  pleased  to  have  his  faith, 
changed  into  sight,  and  his  hope  intofruition:  He  hath 
been  long  pained  and  burdened  in  this  sinful  world, 
with  the  vain  trifles,  the  poor  low  cares  and  amuse- 
ments of  it ;  the  sins  and  sorrows  and  temptations 
that  surround  him  in  it,  give  him  continual  disquie- 
tudes, and  he  hath  been  training  up  in  the  school  of 
Christ,  by  devotion  and  good  works  for  those  high- 
er services  of  heaven.  Since  he  can  trust  the  pro- 
mises of  the  gospel,  and  has  had  some  small  fore- 
taste of  these  pleasures,  he  knows  that  the  actions 
and  employments,  the  businesses  and  joys  of  the  up- 
per world,  are  incomparably  superior  to  any  thin» 
here  on  earth,  and  free  from  all  the  uneasy  and  deli- 
ling  circumstances  of  this  life.  He  is  awake  to  re- 
ceive this  change:  He  rejoices  in  his  removal  from 
world  CO  world  :  His  vital  and  active  powers  are  rea- 
dy for  the  business  of  paradise,  and  he  opens  his 
heart  to  take  in  the  joy. 

7.  Cojisid.  Death  makes  its  approaches  oftentimes, 
and  seizes  us  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  no  room 
for  prayers  or  repentance,  then  *  the  blessedness  of 
the  watchful  soul  appears,  that  if  he  is  carried  out  of 
the  world  and  time  in  such  a  surprising  way,  he  is 
safe  for  eternity.' 

Sometimes  the  messenger  of  death  stops  all  our 
thoughts  and  actions  at  once  by  a  lethargic  stroke, 
or  confounds  them  all,  by  the  delirious  rovings  of  a 
fever;  the  light  of  reason  is  eclipsed  and  darkened, 
the  powers  of  the  mind  are  all  obstructed,  or  the  lan- 
guishings  of  nature  have  so  enfeebled  them,  that  ei- 


140  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN      DISCOURSE  II, 

iher  we  cannot  exercise  them  to  any  spiritual  pur- 
poses, or  we  are  forbid  to  do  it,  for  fear  of  counter- 
working the  physician,  increasing  the  malady,  and 
hastening  our  death.  Thus  we  are  not  capable  of 
making  any  new  preparation,  for  the  important  work 
of  dying;  w^e  can  make  use  of  none  of  the  means  of 
grace,  nor  do  any  thing  more  to  secure  an  interest  in 
the  love  of  God,  the  salvation  of  Christ,  and  the 
blessings  of  heaven. 

This  is  a  very  dismal  thought  indeed.  But  the 
watchful  Christian  hath  this  blessedness,  that  he  is 
fit  to  receive  the  sentence  of  death  in  any  form;  nor 
lethargies,  nor  deliriums,  nor  languors  of  nature,  can 
destroy  the  seed  of  grace  and  religion  in  the  heart, 
which  were  sown  there  in  the  days  of  health;  nor  can 
any  of  the  formidable  attendants  of  death,  cancel  his 
former  transactions  with  God  and  Christ,  about  his 
immortal  concerns.  That  great  and  momentous 
work  was  done  before  death  appeared,  or  any  of  its 
attendants.  He  was  not  so  unwise,  as  to  leave  mat- 
ters of  infinite  importance  at  that  dreadful  hazard: 
He  is  not  now  to  begin  to  seek  after  a  lost  God,  nor 
to  begin  his  repentance  for  past  sins :  He  is  not  now 
a  stranger  at  the  throne  of  grace,  nor  beginning  to 
learn  to  pray:  He  is  not  now  commencing  his  ac- 
quaintance with  Jesus  Christ  his  Saviour,  in  the 
midst  of  a  tumult  and  hurry  of  thoughts  and  fears, 
nor  are  the  works  of  faith,  and  love,  and  holiness,  to 
be  now  begun.  Dreadful  work  indeed,  and  infinitely 
hazardous!  To  begin  to  be  convinced  of  sin  on  the 
borders  of  death,  and  to  make  our  first  enquiries  af- 


DISCOURSE  II.  DYING  IN  PEACE.  141 

ter  God  and  heaven,  upon  the  very  brnik  of  hell ! 
To  begin  to  ask  for  pardon,  when  we  can  live  in  sin 
no  longer;  to  cry  out,  Jesus,  save  me,  when  the  waves 
of  the  wrath  of  God,  are  breaking  in  upon  the  drown- 
ing  soul !  Hopeless  condition  and  extreme  wretched- 
ness! To  have  all  the  hard  work  of  conversion  to  go 
through,  under  the  sinkings  of  feeble  nature,  and  to 
begin  the  exercises  of  virtue  and  godliness,  under 
the  wild  disorders  of  reason  !  What  a  madness  is  it, 
to  leave  our  infinite  concerns  at  such  a  horrible  un- 
certainty ! 

But  these  are  not  thy  circumstances,  oh  wakeful 
Christian  :  Nor  was  this  the  case  of  our  young  de- 
parted friend,  though  her  distemper  soon  discom- 
posed her  reasoning  powers,  and  gave  her  very  little 
opportunity  to  make  a  present  preparation  for  dying. 
But  she  had  heard  the  voice  of  Christ  in  his  gospel 
betimes,  and  awoke  to  righteousness  at  his  call,  that 
she  might  be  always  ready  for  his  summons  in  death. 
Religion  was  her  early  care,  a  fear  to  offend  God, 
possessed  and  governed  her  thoughts  and  actions 
from  her  childhood,  and  heavenly  things  were  her 
youthful  choice.  She  had  appeared  for  some  years, 
in  the  public  profession  of  Christianity,  and  maintain- 
ed the  practice  of  godliness  in  the  church,  and  the 
world  ;  but  it  began  much  more  early  in  secret.  Her 
beloved  closet,  and  her  retiring  hours,  were  silent 
Vv'itnesses  of  her  daily  converse  with  God,  and  her 
Saviour:  There  she  devoted  her  soul  to  her  Creator 
betimes,  according  to  the  encouragements  and  rules 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ,   and  there  she  found  peace 

T 


142  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN      DISCOURSE  II. 

and  salvation.  It  was  there  she  made  a  conscientious 
recollection  of  the  sermons  she  heard  in  public,  from 
her  tender  years,  and  left  behind  her  these  fruits  of 
her  memory,  and  her  pen  to  attest,  what  improve- 
ments she  gained  in  knowledge,  by  the  ministrations 
of  the  word  ;  and  her  cabinet  has  now  discovered  to 
us,  another  set  of  memoirs,  wherein  she  continually 
observed  what  advances  she  might  make  in  real  piety 
by  those  weekly  seasons  of  grace. 

It  was  under  tliese  influences  she  maintained  a 
most  dutiful  and  affectionate  behaviour  to  her  honour- 
ed parents,  and  with  filial  fondness  mingled  with 
esteem,  submission  and  reverence,  paid  her  constant 
regards  to  the  lady  her  mother,  in  her  widowed  es- 
tate. It  was  by  the  united  principles  of  grace  and 
nature,  she  lived  with  her  younger  sisters  in  uncom- 
mon hcirmony  and  friendship,  as  though  one  heart 
and  soul  animated  them  all.  It  was  under  these  in- 
fluences she  ever  stood  upon  her  guard,  amongst  all 
the  innocent  freedoms  of  life,  and  though  she  did  not 
immure  herself,  in  the  walls  of  a  mvother's  house,  but 
indulged  a  just  curiosity  to  learn  some  of  the  forms 
of  the  world,  the  magnificence  of  courts,  and  the 
grandeurs  of  life,  yet  she  knew  how  far  to  appear 
among  them,  and  when  to  retire.  Nor  did  she  for,, 
bid  herself  all  the  poUte  diversions  of  youth,  agree- 
able to  her  rank  ;  nor  did  reason  or  religion,  or  her 
superior  relatives  forbid  her  ;  yet  she  was  still  awake 
to  secure  all  that  belongs  to  honour  and  virtue,  nor 
did  she  use  to  venture  to  the  utmost  bounds,  of  what 


DISC0X7RSE  n.  DYING  IN  PEACE.  143 

sobriety  and  religion  might  allow.  Danger  of  guilt 
stands  near  the  extreme  limits  of  innocence. 

Shall  I  let  this  paper  inform  the  world,  with  what 
friendly  decency,  she  treated  her  young  companions 
and  acquaintance,  how  far  from  indulging  the  modish 
liberties  of  scandal  on  the  absent,  how  much  she 
hated  those  scornful  and  derisive  airs,  which  persons 
on  higher  ground,  too  often  assume  toward  those 
who  are  seated  in  the  inferior  ranks  of  life  ?  Is  it  pro- 
per I  should  say,  how  much  her  behaviour  won  upon 
the  esteem  of  all  that  knew  her,  though  I  could  appeal 
to  the  general  sorrow  at  her  death,  to  confirm  the 
truth  of  it?  But  who  can  forbear  on  this  occasion,  to 
take  notice,  how  far  she  acquired  that  lovely  character 
in  her  narrow  and  private  sphere,  which  seems  almost 
to  have  been  derived  to  her  by  inheritance,  from  her 
honoured  father,  deceased,  who  had  the  tears  of  his 
country  long  dropping  upon  his  tomb,  and  w^iose 
memory  yet  lives  in  a  thousand  hearts  ? 

Such  a  conversation,  and  such  a  character,  made 
up  of  piety  and  virtue,  were  prepared  for  the  attacks 
of  a  fever,  with  malignant  and  mortal  symptoms. 
Slow  and  unsuspected  were  the  advances  of  the  dis- 
ease, till  the  powers  of  reason  began  to  falter  and 
retire,  till  the  heralds  of  death  had  made  their  appear- 
ance, and  spread  on  her  bosom,  their  purple  ensigns. 
When  these  disorders  began,  her  lucid  intervals  were 
longer,  and  while  she  thought  no  person  was  near, 
she  could  address  herself  to  God,  and  say,  how  often 
she  had  given  herself  to  him  ;  she  hoped  she  had 
done  it  sincerely,  and  found  acceptance  with  him, 


144  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN      DISCOURSE  II. 

• 

and  trusted  that  she  was  not  deceived.  The  gleams 
of  reason  that  broke  in  between  the  clouds,  gave  her 
light  enough  to  discern  her  own  evidences  of  piety, 
and  refresh  her  hope.  Then  she  repeated  some  of  the 
last  verses  of  the  139th  Psalm  in  metre,*  viz. 

**  Lord,  search  my  soul,  try  every  thought: 
'   Tho'  my  own  heart  accuse  me  not. 
Of  walking  in  a  false  disguise, 
I  beg  the  trial  of  thine  eyes. 

Doth  secret  mischief  lurk  within? 
Do  I  indulge  some  unknown  sin! 
O  turn  my  feet  whene'er  I  stray, 
And  lead  me  in  thy  perfect  way." 

She  was  frequent  and  importunate  in  her  requests  for 
the  P.salm-book,  that  she  mii^^ht  read  that  Psalm,  or 
at  least  have  it  read  to  her. throughout;  and  it  was 
with  some  difficulty,  we  persuaded  her  to  be  compos- 
ed in  silence;  thus  sincerely  willing  was  she,  that 
God  might  search  and  try  her  heart,  still  hoping  well 
concerning  her  spiritual  state,  yet  still  solicitous  about 
the  assurance  of  her  own  sincerity,  in  her  former 
transactions  with  heaven. 

The  next  day  among  the  roving  of  her  thoughts, 
she  rehearsed  all  those  verses  of  the  17th  Psalm, 
which  are  paraphrased  in  the  same  book,  with  very 
little  faltering  in  a  line  or  two: 

"  Lord  I  am  thine  ;  but  thou  wilt  prove 
My  faith,  my  patience,  and  my  love,"  &c. 

The  traces  of  her  thou.u^hts  under  this  confusion  of 
animal  nature,  retained  something  in  them  divine  ancj 
heavenly. 


DISCOURSE  II.  DYING  IN  PEACE.  l45 

O  blessed  situation  of  soul,  when  \vc  stand  pre- 
pared for  death,  though  it  come  with  the  formidable 
retinue  of  a  disordered  brain,  and  clouded  reason !  It 
would  be  too  long  at  present  to  represent  to  you  the 
*  sad  consequences  of  being  found  asleep  when  Christ 
comes  to  call  us  away  from  this  world,' I  shall  there- 
fore only  make  these  three  reflections.  ^ 

Reflect.  1.  *  None  can  begin  too  early  to  awake  to 
righteousness,  and  prepare  for  the  call  of  Christ,  since 
no  one  is  too  young  to  be  sent  for  by  his  messenger 
of  death.'  I  do  not  here  speak  of  the  state  of  infancy, 
when  persons  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  in  a  personal 
state  of  trial:  But  when  I  say,  'none  can  awake  too 
early  to  mind  the  things  of  religion,'  I  mean,  after 
reason  begins  its  proper  exercise,  and  this  appears 
sometimes  in  early  childhood.  All  our  life  in  this 
world,  compared  with  heaven,  is  a  sort  of  night  and 
season  of  darkness;  and  if  our  Lord  summon  us  away 
*'in  the  first  watch  of  the  night,"  in  the  midst  of 
youth  and  vigour,  and  the  pleasing  allurements  of 
flesh  and  sense,  we  are  in  a  deplorable  state  if  we  are 
found  sleeping,  and  hurried  away  from  earth,  into 
the  invisible  world,  in  the  midst  of  our  foolish  dreams 
of  golden  vanity.  Dreadful  indeed,  to  have  a  young 
thoughtless  creature  carried  off  the  stage,  sleeping 
and  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  !  Let  those  that  are 
drunk  with  wine  fall  asleep  upon  the  top  of  a  mast  in 
the  middle  of  the  sea,  where  the  winds  and  the  waves 
are  tossing  and  roaring  all  around  them;  let  a  njad- 
man  who  has  lost  his  reason,  lie  down  to  sleep  upon 
the  ^(\^(^  of  a  precipice,  where  a  pit  of  fire  and  brim- 


iiO^  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN       DISCOURSE  II. 

Stone  is  burning  beneath  him,  and  ready  to  receive 
bis  fall;  but  let  not  young  sinners,  whose  rational 
powers  are  in  exercise,  and  whose  life  is  every  mo- 
ment a  mere  uncertainty,  venture  to  go  on  in  their 
dangerous  slumbers,  while  the  wrath  of  a  God  and 
eternal  misery  attend  them,  if  they  die  before  they  are 
awake. 

It  is  granted  that  no  power  beneath  that  which  is 
divine,    can  effectually   quicken   a   dead   soul,    and 
awaken  it  into  a  divine  life.    It  is  the  work  of  "  God 
to  quicken  the  dead,"  Rom.  iv.  17.  Eph.  ii.  5.  It  is 
the  son   of  God  who  is  the    *' light  and  life  of  the 
world,"   John  i.  4.     To   whom    ''  the   Father  hath 
given   this   quickening  power,''  John   vi.  26.     He 
calls  sinners  to  awaken  them  from  their  deadly  sleep, 
Eph.  V.  14.     And   ''  they  live   by  him,  as  he  lives 
by  the   Father,"   John  vi.  57.     He   awakens   dead 
souls  to  life,  by  the  same  Ihing  spirit,  which  *'  shall 
quicken  their  mortal  bodies,"  and  raise  them  from 
the    grave,    Rom.    viii.    9,  11,  13.    2    Cor.    iii.    3. 
which  spirit  he    *'  hath  received  from  the  Father," 
John  iii.  34,     And  on  this  account  we  are  to  seek 
the  vital  influences  of  this  grace  from  heaven,  by  con- 
stant  and  importunate   prayer.      Yet  in  my  text,   as 
well  as  in  other  Scriptures,  '' awaking  out  of  sleep," 
and  *'  watching  unto  righteousness,"  is  represented 
as  our  duty,  and  we  are  to  exert  all  our  natural  pow- 
ers  with  holy  fervency,  for  this  end,  while  our  daily 
petitions  draw  down  from  heaven  the  promised  aid  of 
grace.     Our  diligence  in  duty,  and  our  dependence  . 
on  the  divine  power  and  mercy,  are  happily  and  effec- 


30ISCOURSE  11.  DYING  IN  PEACE.  147 

tually  joined  in  the  command  of  our  Saviour,  on  this 
very  occasion,  in  one  of  his  parables,  Mark  xiii.  33. 
*'  Watch  and  pray,  for  ye  know  not  when  the  time  is 
that  the  Lord  will  come."  And  again,  chap.  xiv. 
38.  **  Watch  and  pray  that  ye  enter  not  into  tempta- 
tion.'' Trust  not  in  your  own  strength  and  suffici- 
ency for  the  glorious  change  to  be  wrought  in  your 
sinful  hearts,  and  yet  neglect  not  your  own  labours 
and  restless  endeavours  under  a  pretence,  that  it  is 
God's  work,  and  not  yours.  *' Awake  thou  that 
sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall 
give  thee  light." 

Nor  should  frail  dying  creatures  in  their  youngest 
years,  delay  this  work,  one  day,  nor  one  hour,  since 
the  consequences  of  being  found  asleep  when  Christ 
calls,  are  terrible  indeed.  We  are  beset  widi  mor- 
tality all  around  us;  the  seeds  of  disease  and  disso- 
lution are  working  within  us  from  our  very  birth  and 
cradle,  ever  since  sin  entered  into  our  natures;  and 
we  should  ever  be  in  a  readiness  to  remove  hence, 
bince  we  are  never  secure  from  the  summons  of  hea- 
ven, the  stroke  of  death,  and  the  demands  of  the 
grave.  ' 

There  was  a  lovely  boy,  the  son  of  the  Shunamite, 
who  was  given  to  his  mother  in  a  miraculous  way, 
and  when  he  was  in  the  field  among  the  reapers,  he 
cried  out,  my  head,  my  head ;  he  was  carried  home 
immediately,  and  in  a  few  hours  died  in  his  mother's 
bosom,  2  Kings  iv.  18.  Who  would  have  in^agined 
that  head-ach  should  have  been  death,  and  that  in  so 
short  a  time  too  ?  This  is  almost  the  case  which  we 


148  THE  WATCHFUL   CHRISTIAN       DISCOURSE   II. 

lament  at  present ;  the  head-ach  was  sent  but  a  few 
days  before,  nor  was  the  pain  very  intense,  nor  the 
appearance  dangerous,  yet  it  became  the  fatal,  though 
unexpected  fore-runner  of  death. 

This  providence  is  an  awful  warning-piece  to  all 
her  young  acquaintance,  to  be  ready  for  a  sudden 
removal;  for  she  was  of  a  healthy  make,  and  seemed 
to  stand  at  as  great  distance  from  the  gates  of  death 
as  any  of  you  :  But  the  firmest  constitution  of  human 
nature  is  born  with  death  in  it.  From  every  age,  and 
every  spot  of  ground,  and  every  moment  of  time, 
there  are  short  and  sudden  ways  of  descent  to  the 
grave.  Trap-doors  (if  I  may  use  so  low  a  metaphor) 
are  always  under  us,  and  a  thousand  unseen  avenues 
to  the  regions  of  the  dead.  A  malignant  fever  strikes 
the  strongest  nature  wiih  a  mortal  blast,  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  great  Author  and  Disposer  of  life.  My 
youngest  hearers  may  be  called  away  from  the  earth, 
by  the  next  pain  that  seizes  them.  Nothing  but 
religion,  early  religion,  and  sincere  godliness,  can 
give  you  hope  in  youthful  death,  or  leave  a  fragrant 
savor  on  your  name  or  memory  among  those  that 
survive. 

Reflect.  2.  If  such  blessedness  as  I  have  described, 
belong  to  every  watchful  Christian  at  the  hour  of 
death,  then  it  may  not  be  improper  here  to  take  no- 
tice of  '  some  peculiar  advantages  which  attend  those 
who  shake  off  the  deadly  sleep  of  sin  in  their  younger 
years,  and  are  awake  early  to  God  and  religion.' 

(1.)  They  have  much  fewer  sins  to  mourn  over  on 
a  death-bed,  and  they  prevent  much  bitter  repent- 


©ISCOURSE  II.  DTING  IN  PEACE.  149 

ance  for  youthful  iniquities.  Holy  Job  was  a  man 
of  distinguished  piety,  and  God  himself  pronounces  of 
him  that  **  there  was  none  like  him  in  all  the  earth," 
Job  i.  28.  But  it  is  a  question  whether  his  most 
early  days  were  devoted  to  God,  and  whether  he 
was  so  ^^^atchful  over  his  behaviour,  in  that  dangerous 
season  of  life,  for  he  makes  a  heavy  complaint  in  his 
addresses  to  God,  Job  xiii.  26.  *'  Thou  vvritest 
bitter  things  against  mc,  and  makest  me  to  po^isess 
the  iniquities  of  my  youth."  The  sooner  we  begin 
to  be  awake  to  holiness,  the  more  of  these  follies  and 
sorrows  are  prevented:  Happy  those  who  have  the 
fewest  of  them,  to  imbitter  their  following  lives,  or 
make  a  death-bed  painful! 

(2.)  Young  persons  have  fewer  attachments  to  the 
world,  and  the  persons  and  things  of  it,  which  are 
round  about  them,  and  are  more  ready  to  part  with 
it  wdien  their  souls  are  united  to  God  by  an  early  faith 
and  love.  They  have  not  yet  entered  into  so  nuuie- 
rous  engagements  of  life,  nor  dwelt  long  enough  here 
to  have  their  hearts  grown  so  fast  on  to  creatures, 
which  usually  makes  the  parting  stroke  so  full  of  an- 
guish ahd  smarting  sorrow.  A  child  can  much  more 
easily  ascend  to  heaven,  and  leave  a  parent  behind, 
without  that  tender  and  painful  solicitude,  which  a 
dying  parent  has  for  the  welfare  of  a  surviving  child. 
The  surrender  of  all  mortal  interests  at  the  call  of 
God,  is  much  more  easy  when  our  souls  are  not  tied 
to  them  by  so  many  strings,  nor  united  by  so  many 
of  the  softer  endearments  of  nature,  and  where  grace 
has  taught  us  to  practise  an  early  weaning  from  all 

TJ 


150  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN        DISCOURSE  11^ 

temporal  comforts,   and  a  little  loosened  our  hearts 
from  them,  by  the  faith  of  things  eternal. 

(3.)  Those  that  have  been  awake  betimes  to  godli- 
ness,  give  peculiar  honours  to  the  gospel  at  death,  and 
leave  this  testimony  to  the  divine  religion  of  Jesus, 
that  it  was  able  to  subdue  passion  and  appetite  in  that 
season  of  life,  when  they  are  usually  strongest  and 
most  unruly.  They  give  peculiar  credit  and  glory 
to  the  Christian  name  and  the  gospel,  which  has 
gained  them  so  many  victories  over  the  enemies  of 
their  salvation,  at  that  age  wherein  multitudes  are 
the  captives  of  sin,  and  slaves  to  folly  and  vanity. 

(4.)  Those  Christians  who  are  awake  to  God  in 
their  early  years,  leave  more  happy  and  powerful  ex- 
amples of  living  and  dying,  to  their  young  compan- 
ions and  acquaintance.  It  is  the  temper  of  every 
age  of  life,  to  be  more  influenced  and  affected  by  the 
practice  of  persons  of  the  same  years.  Sin  has  fewer 
excuses  to  make,  in  order  to  shield  itself  from  the 
reproof  of  such  examples,  who  have  renounced  it  be- 
times ;  and  virtue  carries  with  it  a  more  effectual 
motive  to  persuade  young  sinners  to  piety  and  good- 
ness, when  it  can  point  to  its  votaries  of  the  same 
age,  and  in  the  same  circumstances  of  life.  *  Why- 
may  not  this  be  practised  by  you,  as  well  as  by  your 
companions  round  about  you,  of  the  same  age?' 
But  I  must  hasten  to  the  last  reflection. 

Reflect,  3.  '  When  we  mourn  the  death  of  friends 
who  were  prepared  for  an  early  summons,  let  their 
preparation  be  our  support.'  Blessed  be  God  they 
were  not  found  sleeping!  While  we  drop  our  tears 


DISCOURSE  II.  DYING  TN  PEACE.  151 

V 

upon  the  grave  of  any  young  Christian  who  was 
awake  and  alive  to  God,  that  blessedness  which  Christ 
himself  pronounces  upon  them,  is  a  sweet  cordial  to 
mingle  with  our  bitter  sorrows,  and  will  greatly  as- 
sist to  dry  up  the  spring  of  them.  The  idea  of  their 
piety,  and  their  approbation  in  the  sight  of  God,  is 
a  balm  to  heal  the  w^ound,  and  give  present  ease  to 
the  heart-ach. 

We  are  ready-to  run  over  their  virtues,  and  spread 
abroad  their  amiable  qualities  in  our  thoughts,  and 
then,  with  seeming  reason,  we  give  a  loose  to  the 
mournful  passion ;  whereas  all  these,  when  set  in  a 
true  light,  are  real  ingredients  towards  our  relief. 

We  lament  the  loss  of  our  departed  friend,  when 
we  review  that  capacious  and  uncommon  power  of 
memory,  which  the  God  of  nature  had  given  her,  and 
which  was  so  well  furnished  with  a  variety  of  human 
and  divine  knowledge  and  was  stored  with  a  rich 
treasure  of  the  w^ord  of  God,  so  that  if  Providence  had 
called  her  into  a  more  public  appearance,  she  might 
have  stood  up  in  the  world  as  a  burning  and  shining 
light,  so  far  as  her  sex  and  station  required.  This 
furniture  of  the  mind  seems  indeed  to  be  lost  in  death, 
and  buried  in  the  grave;  but  we  give  in  too  much  to 
the  judgment  of  sense;  did  not  this  extensive  know- 
ledge lay  a  foundation  for  her  early  piety  ?  And  did 
it  not,  by  this  means,  prepare  her  for  a  more  speedy 
removal  to  a  higher  school  of  improvement,  and  a 
world  of  sublimer  devotion  ?  And  does  she  not  shine 
there  among  the  better  and  brighter  company? 


.152  THE  WATCIirU'T.  CHRISTIAN     niSCOURSE  IT. 

We  mourn  again  for  our  loss  of  a  person  so  valu- 
able, when  we  think  of  that  general  calmness  and  se- 
dateness  of  soul,  which  she  possessed  in  a  peculiar 
degree,  so  that  she  was  not  greatly  elevated  or  de- 
pressed, by  common  accidents  or  occurrences;  but 
this  secured  her  from  the  rise  of  unruly  passions, 
those  stormy  powers  of  nature,  which  sometimes  sink 
us  into  guilt  and  distress,  and  make  us  unwilling  and 
afraid  of  the  sudden  summons  of  Christ,  lest  he 
should  find  us  under  these  disorders. 

We  think  of  her  firmness  of  spirit,  and  that  steady 
resolution,  which,  joined  with  a  natural  reserve,  was 
a  happy  guard  against  many  of  the  forward  follies  and 
dangers  of  youth,  and  proved  a  successful  defence 
against  some  of  the  allurements  and  temptations  of 
the  gayer  years  of  life:  And  then  we  mourn  afresh 
that  a  person  so  well  formed  for  growing  prudence 
and  virtue,  should  be  so  suddenly  snatched  away 
from  amongst  us.  But  this  steady  and  dispassion- 
ate frame  of  soul,  well  improved  by  religion  and  divine 
grace,  became  an  effectual  means  to  preserve  her 
youth  more  unblemished,  and  made  her  spirit  fitter 
for  the  heavenly  world,  where  noUiing  can  enter  that 
is  defiled,  and  whose  delights  are  not  tumultuous  as 
ours  are  on  earth ;  but  ail  is  a  calm  and  rational 
state  of  joy. 

We  lament  yet  further  when  we  think  of  her  na- 
tive goodness  and  unu'iilingness  to  displease:  But 
goodness  is  the  very  temper  of  that  region  to  which 
she  is  gone,  and  she  is  the  fitter  companion  for  the 
inhabitants  of  a  world  of  love. 


DISCOURSE  II.  DYING  IN  PEACE.  15J 

We  lament  that  such  a  pattern  of  early  piety  should 
be  taken  from  the  earth,  when  there  are  sofevvprac- 
tisers  of  it,  especially  among*  the  youth  of  our  degen- 
erate age,  and  in  plentiful  circumstances  of  life.  But 
it  is  a  matter  of  high  thankfulness  to  God,  who  en- 
dowed her  with  those  valuable  qualities,  and  trained 
her  up  so  soon  for  a  world  so  much  better  than  ours 
is.  Let  our  sorrow  for  the  deceased,  be  changed  into 
devout  praises  to  divine  grace.  Let  us  imitate  the 
holy  language  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Thessalonians,  and 
say,  *  we  are  comforted'  even  at  her  grave,  '  in  all  our 
affliction  and  distress,  by  the'  remembrance  of  '  her 
faith'  and  piety.  *What'  sufficient  'thanks  can  we  ren- 
der unto  God,  upon  her  account,  for  all  the  joy 
wherewith  we  rejoice  for'  her  '  sake  before  our  God, 
night  and  day,  praying  exceedingly  that  we  may  see 
her  face'  in  the  state  of  perfection  ?  And  '  may  God 
himself,  even  our  Father,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
direct  our  w^ay,'  to  the  happy  world,  where  she 
dwells,  1  Thess.  iii.  7,  &c.  The  imitation  of  what 
was  excellent  in  her  life,  and  watchful  readiness  to 
follow  her  in  death,  are  the  best  honours  we  can  pay 
her  memory,  and  the  wisest  improvements  of  the 
present  providence.  May  the  spirit  of  grace  teach 
us  these  lessons,  and  make  us  all  learn  them  with 
power,  that  when  our  Lord  Jesus  shall  come  to  call 
us  hence  by  death,  or  shall  appear  with  all  his  saints, 
in  the  great  rising-day,  we  may  be  found  among  his 
wakeful  servants,  and  partake  of  the  promised  bless- 
edness I  Ame?i, 


DISCOURSE  III. 
SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


•  *•►::'#« 


Mark  xiii.  36. 

Watch  ye  therefore^  lest  coming  suddenly  ^  he  find  you 
sleeping. 

AMONG  the  parables  of  our  Saviour,  there  are 
several  recorded  by  the  Evangelists,  which  represent 
him  as  a  Prince,  or  Lord  and  Master  of  a  family,  de- 
parting for  a  season  from  his  servants,  and  in  his 
absence,  appointing  them  their  proper  work,  with  a 
solemn  charge  to  wait  for  his  return  ;  at  which  time 
he  foretold  them,  that  he  should  require  an  account 
of  their  behaviour  in  his  absence,  and  he  either  inti- 
mates or  expresses  a*  severe  treatment  of  those,  who 
should  neglect  their  duty  while  he  was  gone,  or  make 
no  preparation  for  his  appearance.  He  informs  them 
also  that  he  should  come  upon  them  on  a  sudden, 
and  for  this  reason  charges  them  to  be  always  awake 
and  upon  their  guard,  ver.  35.  '*  Watch  ye  there- 
fore, for  ye  know  not  when  the  Master  of  the  house 
cometh,  whether  at  even,  or  at  midnight,  or  at  cock- 
crowing,  or  in  the  morning." 

Thou.ch  the  ultimate  design  of  these  parables,  and 
the  <  coming  of  Christ'  mentioned  therein,  refer  to 


DISCOURSE  III.  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  tSS 

the  great  day  of  judgment,  when  he  shall  return  from 
heaven,  shall  raise  the  dead,  and  call  mankind  to  ap- 
pear before  his  judgment-seat,  to  receive  a  recom- 
pense according  to  their  works;  yet  both  the  duties 
and  the  warnings,  which  are  represented  in  these  pa- 
rables, seem  to  be  very  accommodable  to  the  hour  of 
our  death;  for  then  our  Lord  Jesus,  who  *  has  the 
keys  of  death  and'  the  grave,  and  '  the  unseen  world,' 
comes  to  finish  our  state  of  trial,  and  to  put  a  period 
to  all  our  works  on  earth  :  He  comes  then  to  call 
us  into  the  invisible  state;  he  disposes  our  bodies  to 
the  dust,  and  our  souls  are  sent  into  other  mansions, 
and  taste  some  degrees  of  appointed  happiness  or 
misery,  according  to  their  behaviour  here.  The 
solemn  and  awful  warning  which  my  text  gives  us 
concerning  the  return  of  Christ  to  judgment,  may  be 
therefore  pertinently  applied  to  the  season  when  he 
shall  send  his  messenger  of  death,  to  fetch  us  hence: 
"  Watch  ye  therefore,  lest  coming  suddenly,  he  find 
you  sleeping." 

When!  had  occasion  to  treat  on  a  subject  near  akin 
to  this,*  I  shewed  that  there  was  a  distinction  to  be 
made,  between  the  '  dead  sleep  of  a  sinner,'  and 
'  slumber  of  an  unwatchful  Christian.'  Those  who 
never  had  the  work  of  religion  begun  in  their  hearts 
or  lives,  are  sleeping  the  sleep  of  death ;  whereas 
some  who  are  made  alive  by  the  grace  of  Christ  yet 
may  indulge  sinful. drowsiness,  and  grow  careless  and 

*  In  a  funeral  Sermon  for  Mrs.  Sarah  Abney,  on  Luke  xij.  37.  "  Bles-o- 
ed  are  those  servants,  whom  the  Lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall  find  watch- 


15G  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  DISCOURSE  III. 

secure,  slothful  and  unactive.  *'  The  wise  virgins 
as  well  as  the  foolish,  were  slumbering  and  sleep- 
ing," Matt.  XXV.  5.  The  mischiefs  and  sorrows 
which  attend  each  of  these,  when  Christ  shall  sum- 
mon them  to  judgment,  or  shall  call  them  away  from 
earth,  by  natural  death,  are  great  and  formidable, 
though  they  are  not  equally  dangerous  :  Let  us  con- 
sider each  of  them  in  succession,  in  order  to  rouse 
dead  sinners  from  their  lethargy,  and  to  keep  drowsy 
Christians  awake. 

Fir^,  Let  us  survey  the  sad  consequences  which 
attend  those  that  are  '  asleep  in  sin  and  spiritually 
dead,'  when  the  hour  of  natural  death  approaches : 
They  are  such  as  these, 

L  '  If  they  happen  to  be  awakened  on  the  borders 
of  the  grave,  into  what  a  horrible  confusion  and  dis- 
tress of  soul  are  they  plunged  ?'  What  keen  anguish 
of  conscience  for  their  past  iniquities  seizes  upon 
them  ?  What  bitter  remorse  and  self-reproaches,  for 
the  seasons  of  grace  which  they  have  wasted,  for  the  . 
proposals  of  mercy  which  they  have  abused  and  re- 
jected, and  for  the  jdivine  salvation  which  seems  now 
to  be  lost  for  ever,  and  put  almost  beyond  the  reach 
of  possibility  and  hope.  They  feel  the  messenger  of 
death,  laying  his  cold  hands  upon  them,  and  they 
shudder  and  tremble,  with  the  expectation  of  ap- 
proaching misery.  They  look  up  to  heaven  and  they 
see  a  God  of  holiness  there,  as  a  consuming  fire  rea- 
dy to  devour  them,  as  stubble  fit  for  the  flame :  They 
look  to  the  Son  of  God,  who  has  the  keys  of  death 
in  his  hand,  and  who  calls  them  away  from  the  land 


DISCOURSE  III.  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  15/^ 

of  the  living,  even  to  Jesus  the  compassionate  Medi- 
ator, but  they  can  scarce  persuade  themselves  to  ex- 
pect any  thing  from  him,  because  they  have  turned 
a  deaf  ear  so  long  to  the  invitations  of  his  gospel,  and 
so  long  affronted  his  divine  compassion.  They  look 
behind  them,  and  with  painful  ag(jnies  are  frighted 
at  the  mountaj^is  of  their  former  guilt,  ready  to  over- 
whelm them  ;  They  look  forward,  and  see  the  pit  of 
hell  opening  upon  them,  with  all  its  torments;  long 
darkness  without  a  glimpse  of  light,  and  eternal  des- 
pair with  no  glimmerings  of  hope. 

Or  if  now  and  then  amidst  their  horrors,  they 
would  try  to  form  some  faint  hope  of  mercy,  how  are 
their  spirits  perplexed  with  prevailing  and  distracting 
fears,  with  keen  and  cutting  reflections?  '  Oh  that 
I  had  improved  my  former  seasons  for  reading,  for 
praying,  for  meditating  on  divine  things!  But  I  can- 
not read,  I  can  hardly  meditaie,  and  scarce  know- 
how  to  pray.  Will  the  ear  of  God  ever  hearken  to 
the  cries  and  groans  of  a  rebel  that  has  so  long  re- 
sisted his  grace?  Are  there  any  pardons  to  be  had 
for  a  criminal,  who  never  left  his  sins  till  vengeance 
WMs  in  view  ?  Will  the  blood  of  Christ  ever  be  ap- 
plied to  wash  a  soul,  that  has  wallowed  in  his  defile- 
ments, till  death  roused  him  out  of  them  ?  Will  the 
meanest  favour  of  heaven,  be  indulged  to  a  wretch 
who  has  grown  bold  in  sin,  in  opposition  to  so  loud 
and  repeated  warnings?  I  am  awake  indeed,  but  I  can 
see  nothing  round  me  but  distresses  and  discourage- 
ments, and  my  soul  sinks  within  me,  and  my  heart 
dies  at  the  thoughts  of  appearing  before  God.* 


168  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  DISCOURSE   IIIc 

It  is  a  wise,  and  just  observation  among  Chris- 
tians, though  it  is  a  very  common  one,  that  the  Scrip- 
lures  give  us  one  instance  of  a  penitent  saved  in  his 
dying  hour,  and  that  is  the  *  thief  upon  the  cross,' 
that  so  none  might  utterly  desprir  ;  but  there  is  hit 
one  such  instance  given,  that  none  might  presume. 
The  work  of  repentance  is  too  difficult,  and  too  im- 
portant a  thing,  to  be  left  to  the  languors  of  a  dying 
bed,  and  the  tumults  and  flutterings  of  thought,  which 
attend  such  a  late  conviction.  There  can  be  hardly 
any  effectual  proofs  given  of  the  sincerity  of  such  re- 
pentings :  And  I  am  verily  persuaded  there  are  few* 
of  them  sincere;  for  w^e  have  often  found  these  vio- 
lent emotions  of  conscience  vanish  again,  if  the  sin- 
ner has  happened  to  recover  his  health :  They  seem 
to  be  merely  the  wild  perplexities  and  struggles  of 
nature,  averse  to  misery,'  rather  than  averse  to  sin  : 
Their  renouncing  their  former  lusts,  on  the  very  bor- 
ders of  hell  and  destruction,  is  more  like  the  vehe- 
ment and  irregular  efforts  of  a  drowning  creature, 
constrained  to  let  go  a  most  beloved  object,  and  tak- 
ing eager  hold  of  any  plank  for  safety,  rather  than 
the  calm  and  reasonable,  and  voluntary  designs  of  a 
mariner,  who  forSiikes  his  earthly  joys,  ventures  him- 
self in  a  ship  that  is  offered  him,  and  sets  sail  for  the 
heavenly  country.  I  never  will  pronounce  such  ef- 
forts and  endeavours  desperate,  lest  I  limit  the  grace 
of  God  which  is  unbounded ;  but  I  can  give  very 
little  encouragement  for  hope  to  an  hour  or  two,  of 
this  vehement  and  tumultuous  penitence,  on  the  very 
brink  of  damnation.     '  Judas  repented,'  but  his  ago- 


DISCOURSF.  III.  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  151) 

nies  of  soul  hurried  him  to  hasten  his  own  death, 
*'  that  he  might  go  to  his  own  place:"  And  there  is 
abundance  of  such  kind  of  repenting,  in  every  corner 
of  hell;  that  is  a  deep  and  dreadful  pit,  whence  there 
is  no  redemption,  though  there  are  millions  of  such 
sorts  of  penitents;  it  is  a  strong  and  dark  prison, 
where  no  beam  of  comfort  ever  shines,  where  bitter 
anguish  and  mourning  for  sins  past,  is  no  evangelical 
repentance,  but  everlasting  and  hopeless  sorrow. 

II.  *  Those  that  are  found  sleeping  at  the  hour  of 
death,  are  carried  away  at  once,  from  all  their  sensual 
pursuits  and  enjoyments,  which  were  their  chosen 
portion,  and  their  highest  happiness.'  At  once  they 
lose  all  their  golden  dreams,  and  their  chief  good  is, 
as  it  were  snatched  away  from  them  at  once  and  for 
ever.  '  They  stand  on  slippery  places,  they  are 
brought  to  destruction  in  a  moment,'  and  all  their 
former  joys  *  are  like  a  dream  when  one  awaketh,' 
and  finds  himself  beset  round  with  terrors. 

Are  there  any  of  you  that  are  pleasing  yourselves 
here  in  the  days  of  youth  and  vanity,  and  indulge 
your  dreams  of  pleasure,  in  the  sleep  of  spiritual 
death,  think  of  the  approaching  moment,  when  the 
death  of  nature  shall  dissolve  your  sleep,  and  scatter 
all  the  delusive  images  of  sinful  joy.  This  separa- 
tion from  the  body  of  flesh,  is  a  fearful  shock  given 
to  the  soul,  that  makes  it  awake  indeed.  Sermons 
would  not  do  it ;  the  voice  of  the  preacher  was  not 
loud  enough  ;  strokes  of  affliction,  and  smarting  pro- 
vidences would  not  do  it ;  perhaps  the  soul  miglu  be 
roused  a  little,  but  dropt  into  profound  sleep  again  : 


i60  SURPRISE   IN   DEATH. 


DISCOURSE  III. 


sudden  or  surprising  deaths  near  them,  and  even  the 
pains  of  nature  in  their  own  flesh,  their  own  sick- 
nesses and  diseases,  did  not  awaken  them,  nor  the 
voice  of  the  Lord  in  them  all :  But  the  parting-stroke 
that  divides  the  soul  and  body,  will  terribly  awaken 
the  soul  from  the  vain  delusion,  and  all  its  fancied 
delii^hts  for  ever  vanish. 

When  they  are  *  visited  by  the  Lord  of  hosts  with 
this  thunder  and  earthquake,'  as  the  Prophet  Isaiah 
speaks,  when  *  this  storm  and  tempest'  of  death,  shall 
shake  the  sinner  out  of  his  airy  visions,  he  shall  *  be 
as  an  hungry  man  that  dreameth  he  was  eating,  but 
awakes  and  his  soul  is  empty  ;    or  as  a  thirsty  crea- 
ture dreaming  that  he  drinks,  but  he  awaketh  and  be- 
hold  he  is  faint,'  and  his  soul  is  pained  with  raging 
appetite  :   The  sinner  finds  to  his  own  torment,  how 
wretchedly  he  has  deceived   himself  and  fed   upon 
vanity  :   There  are  no  more  earthly  objects  to  please 
his  senses,  and  to  gratify  his  inclinations ;    but  the 
soul  for  ever  lives  upon  a  rack  of  carnal  desire,  and 
no  proper  object  to  satisfy  it.     His  taste  is  not  suit- 
ed  to  the  pleasures  of  a  world  of  spirits,  he  can  find 
no  God  there  to  comfort  him  :    God  with  his  offers 
of  grace  are  gone  forever,  and  the  world  widi  its  joys 
are  for  ever  vanished,  while  the  wretched  and  mali- 
cious  creatures,  into  whose  company  he  is  hurried, 
and  who  were  the  tempters  or  associates  of  his  crimes, 
shall  stand  round  him  to  become  his  tormentors. 

IIL  *  Though  death  will  awaken  sinful  souls  into 
a  sharper  and  more  lively  sense  of  divine  and  heaven- 
ly things  than  ever  they  had  in  this  world,  vet  thev 


DISCOURSE  III.  SURPRISE   IN  DEATH.  161 

shall  never  be  awakened  to  spiritual  life  and  holi- 
ness:' And  I  think  1  may  add,  that  though  they 
should  be  awakened  to  a  sight  of  God,  and  his  jus- 
tice, and  his  grace,  to  a  sight  of  heaven  and  hell,  more 
immediate  and  perspicuous  than  what  even  the  saints 
themselves  usually  enjoy  in  this  life,  yet  they  would 
remain  still  under  the  bondage  of  their  lusts,  still 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  They  shall  for  ever 
continue  unbeloved  of  God,  and  incapable  of  all  the 
happiness  of  the  heavenly  state,  because  they  are  for 
ever  averse  to  the  holiness  of  God,  and  themselves 
for  ever  unholy.  It  is  only  in  the  present  state  of 
trial,  and  under  the  present  proposals  of  grace,  that 
sleeping  sinners  can  be  awakened  into  the  spiritual 
and  divine  life.  The  voice  of  the  son  of  God,  that 
breaks  the  monuments  of  brass,  and  makes  tombs  of 
hardest  marble  yield  to  his  call,  shall  never  break 
one  heart  of  stone,  which  is  gone  down  to  death,  in 
its  native  and  sinful  hardness:  That  almighty  voice 
that  must  awaken  the  nations  of  the  dead,  and  com- 
mand their  bodies  up  from  the  grave,  shall  never 
awaken  one  dead  soul,  when  they  are  past  the  limits 
of  this  life.  The  compassionate  calls  of  a  Saviour, 
and  the  offers  of  mercy,  are  then  come  to  their  utmost 
period :  And  if  we  refuse  to  hear  the  call  of  mercy 
to  the  moment  of  death,  we  shall  then  be  terribly 
constrained  to  feel  the  loss  of  it,  but  never  able  to 
obtain  the  blessing. 

Obstinate  sleepers  shall  be  awakened  to  see  God, 
but  only  as  Balaam  was:  <'  I  shall  see  him  but  not 
nigh,"   Numb.   xxiv.  17.     The   saints  in  this  life 


162  SURPRISE   IN  DEATH.  DISCOURSE  111. 

have  God  near  them  in  all  their  trials,  as  a  father  and 
a  friend,  to  uphold,  to  comfort,  to  sanctify,  though 
they  see  him  but  darkly  through  a  glass,  and  behold 
hut  little  of  his  power  or  glory  :  The  sinner  awaking 
in  hell  sliali,  perhaps,  have  a  clearer  and  more  acute 
perception  of  what  God  is,  than  any  saint  on  earth : 
But  he  shall  behold  him  as  an  enemy,  and  not  a 
friend  :  If  he  beholds  him  in  the  glory  of  his  grace, 
it  is  at  a  dreadful  and  insuperable  distance ;  there  is 
no  erace  for  him  :  He  sees  him  in  his  holiness,  but 
he  cannot  love  him,  he  has  no  meltings  of  true  peni- 
tence  for  his  former  rebellions  against  God,  his  heart 
is  hardened  into  everlasting  enmity,  and  shall  never 
taste  of  his  love.  Hence  arise  all  the  foul  and  gnaw- 
ing passions  of  envy,  malignity,  and  long  despair, 
which  are  the  very  image  of  Satan,  and  change  man- 
kind into  devils. 

These  impenitent  sons  and  daughters  of  men,  shall 
e;row  into  the  more  complete  likeness  of  those  wick- 
ed spirits,  and,  under  the  impressions  of  their  guilt 
and  dLimnation,  they  shall  rival  those  apostate  and 
cursed  creatures,  in  the  obstinate  hatred  of  God,  and 
all  that  is  holy. 

IV.  Hence  it  will  follovv*  in  the  last  place,  that  the 
sinner  who  is  Mast  asleep  in  his  sins  at  the  hour  of 
death,  sb.all  awake  into  such  a  life  as  is  worse  than 
tlN'in^.'  He  sluill  be  surprised  all  at  once  into  dark- 
ness and  fire,  which  have  no  gleam  of  light,  and  sor- 
rows without  mitigation,  and  which  can  find  no  end. 
'y\\&  punishment  of  hell  is  not  called  eternal  deaths 
to  denote  a  state  of  senseless   and  stupid  existence  ; 


DISCOURSE  III.  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  163 

but  death  being  the  most  opposite  to  life,  and  all  the 
enjoyments  of  it,  the  misery  of  hell  is  described  by 
death,  as  the  most  formidable  thing  to  nature,  as  a 
word  that  puts  a  period  to  all  the  enjoyments  of  this 
mortal  life,  and  stands  directly  opposite  to  a  life  of 
joy  and  glory  in  the  immortal  world.  Happy  would 
it  be  for  such  souls  if  they  could  sink  into  an  ever- 
lasting sleep,  and  grow  stupid  and  senseless  for  ever 
and  ever ;  but  this  is  a  favour  not  to  be  granted  to 
those  who  have  been  constant  and  unrepenting  rebels, 
against  the  law  and  the  grace  of  God. 

The  moment  when  the  body  falls  asleep  in  death, 
the  soul  is  more  awake  than  ever,  to  behold  its  own 
guilt  and  wretchedness.  It  has  then  such  a  lively  and 
piercing  sense  of  its  own  iniquities,  and  the  divine 
wrath  that  is  due  to  them,  as  it  never  saw  or  felt 
before.  The  inward  senses  of  the  soul  (if  I  may  so 
express  it)  which  have  been  darkened  and  stupified, 
and  benumbed  in  this  body,  are  all  awake  at  once, 
when  the  veil  of  flesh  is  thrown  off,  and  the  curtains 
are  drawn  back  which  divided  them  from  the  world 
of  spirits.  Every  thought  of  sin,  and  the  anger  of 
God,  wounds  the  spirit  deep  in  this  awakened  state, 
though  it  scarce  felt  any  thing  of  it  before  ;  and  "  a 
wounded  spirit  who  can  bear?"  Prov.  xviii.  14.  But 
sinners  must  bear  it  days  without  end,  and  ages  with- 
out hope. 

Then  the  crimes  they  have  committed,  and  the 
sinful  pleasures  they  have  indulged,  shall  glare  upon 
their  remembrance,  and  stare  them  in  the  face  with 
dreadful  surprise  ;   and  each  of  them  is  enoudi  to 


164  SURPRISE  IN  DEA1*ir.  DISCOURSE  IIJ. 

drive  a  soul  to  despair  :  Nor  can  they  turn  their  eyes 
away  from  the  horrid  sight,  for  their  criminal  prac- 
tices beset  them  around,  and  the  naked  soul  is  all 
sight  and  all  sense ;  it  is  eye  and  ear  all  over ;  it 
hears  the  dreadful  curses  of  the  law,  and  the  sentence 
of  the  Judge,  and  never,  never  forgets  it.  This  is 
the  character,  these  the  circumstances  of  an  obstinate 
sinner,  that  awakes  not  till  the  moment  of  death,  and 
*'  lift  up  his  eyes  in  hell,"  as  our  Saviour  expresses 
it :  These  will  be  the  consequences  of  our  guilt  and 
folly,  if  we  are  found  in  a  dead  sleep  of  sin,  when  our 
Lord  comes  to  call  us  from  this  mortal  state. 

Secondly^  Let  us  spend  a  few  thoughts  also  upon 
the  dangerous  and  unhappy  circumstances  of  those 
of  whom  we  may  *  have  some  reason  to  hope,  they 
have  once  begun  religion  in  good  earnest,  and  are 
made  spiritually  alive,  but  have  indulged  themselves 
in  drowsiness,  and  worn  out  the  latter  end  of  their 
days  in  a  careless,  secure,  and  slothful  frame  of 
spirit.' 

1.  If  they  have  had  the  principle  of  vital  religion 
wrought  in  their  hearts,  yet  *  by  these  criminal  slum- 
bers, they  darken  and  lose  their  evidences  of  grace, 
and  by  this  means,  they  cut  themselves  off  from  the 
sweet  reflections' and  comforts  of  it  on  a  dying  bed, 
when  they  have  most  need  of  them.'  They  know 
not  whether  they  are  the  children  of  God  or  no, 
and  are  in  anxious  confusion  and  distressing  fear : 
They  have  scarce  any  plain  proofs  of  their  conver- 
sion to  God,  and  the  evidences  of  true  Christianity 
ready  at  hand,  when  all  are  little  enough  to  support 


DISCOURSE  III.  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  165 

their  spirits:  They  have  not  used  themselves  to  search 
for  them  by  self-enquiry,  and  to  keep  them  in  their 
sight,  and  therefore  they  are  missing  in  this  import- 
ant hour:  They  have  not  been  wont  to  live  upon  their 
heavenly  hopes,  and  they  cannot  be  found  when  they 
want  them  to  rest  upon  in  death  :  They  die  therefore 
almost  like  sinners,  though  they  may  perhaps  have 
been  once  converted  to  holiness,  and  there  may  be  a 
root  of  grace  remaining  in  them  ;  and  the  reason  is, 
because  they  have  lived  too  much  as  sinners  do : 
They  have  given  too  great  and  criminal  an  indul- 
gence, to  the  vain  and  worldly  cares,  or  the  trifling 
amusements  of  this  life  ;  these  have  engrossed  almost 
all  their  thoughts  and  their  time,  and  therefore  in  the 
day  of  death  they  fall  under  terrors  and  painful  ap- 
prehensions of  a  doubtful  eternity  just  at  hand. 

If  we  have  not  walked  closely  with  God  in  this 
world,  we  may  well  be  afraid  to  appear  before  him 
in  the  next.  If  we  have  not  maintained  a  constant 
converse  with  Jesus  our  Saviour,  by  holy  exercises 
of  faith  and  hope,  it  is  no  wonder  if  we  are  not  so 
ready  with  cheerfulness  and  joy,  to  re^isjn  our  de- 
parting spirits  into  his  hand.  It  is  possible  we  may 
have  a  right  to  the  inheritance  of  heaven,  having  had 
some  sight  of  it  by  faith  as  revealed  in  the  gospel, 
having  in  the  main  chosen  it  for  our  portion,  and  set 
our  feet  in  the  path  of  holiness  that  leads  to  it ;  but  we 
have  so  often  wandered  out  of  the  way,  that  in  this 
awful  and  solemn  hour,  we  shall  be  in  doubt,  whe- 
ther we  shall  be  received  at  the  gates,  and  enter  into 
the  citv. 


166  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  DISCOURSE  HI. 

Such  unwatchful  Christians  have  not  kept  the  eter- 
nal glories  of  heaven,  in  their  constant  and  active  pur- 
suit, they  have  not  lived  upon  them  as  their  portion 
and  inheritance,  they  have  been  too  much  strangers 
to  the  invisible  world  of  happiness,  and  they  know 
not  how  to  venture  through  death  into  it.  They  have 
built  '  indeed  upon  the  solid  ^oundixtion,  Christ  Jesus' 
and  the  gospel,  but  they  have  mingled  so  much  '  hay 
and  stubble'  with  the  superstructure,  that  when  they 
depart  hence,  or  when  they  appear  before  Christ  in 
judgment,  *'  they  shall  suffer  great  loss  by  the  burn- 
ing of  their  works,  yet  themselves  may  be  saved  so 
as  by  fire,"  1  Cor.  iii.  10 — 15.  They  may  pass  as 
it  were  by  the  flame  of  hell,  and  have  something  like 
the  scorching  terrors  of  it  in  death,  though  the 
abounding  and  forgiving  grace  of  the  gospel,  may 
convey  them  safe  to  heaven :  They  escape  as  a  man 
that  is  awakened  with  the  sudden  alarms  of  fire,  who 
suffers  the  loss  of  his  substance,  and  a  great  part  of 
the  fruit  of  his  labours,  and  just  saves  his  own  life. 
They  plunge  into  eternity,  and  make  a  sort  of  terri- 
ble escape  from  hell. 

2.  *  They  can  never  expect  any  peculiar  favours 
from  heaven  at  the  hour  of  death,  no  special  visita- 
tions of  the  comforting  spirit,  nor  that  the  love  of 
God,  and  the  joy  of  his  presence,  should  attend  them 
through  the  dark  valley.'  It  is  not  to  such  unwatch- 
ful or  sleepy  Christians,  that  God  is  wont  to  vouch- 
safe his  choicest  consolations.  They  fall  under  ter- 
rible fears  about  the  pardon  of  their  sins,  when  they 
stand  in  most  need  of  the  sight  of  their  pardon;  and 


BISCOURSE  III.  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  1^)7 

Christ  as  the  ruler  of  his  church,  sees  it  fit  they  should 
be  thus  punished  for  their  negligence.  They  lay 
hold  of  the  promises  of  mercy  w  ith  a  trembling  hand, 
and  cannot  claim  them  by  a  vigorous  faith,  because 
they  have  not  been  wont  to  live  upon  them,  nor  do 
they  see  those  holy  characters  in  their  own  hearts  and 
lives,  which  confirm  their  title  to  them.  They  have 
no  bright  views  of  the  celestial  world,  and  earnests  of 
their  salvation,  for  it  is  only  for  watchful  souls,  that 
these  cordials  are  prepared  in  the  fainting  hour  :  It  is 
only  to  the  watchful  Christian,  that  these  fore-tastes 
of  glory  are  given.  **  The  fruit  of  righteousness  is 
peace,  and  the  effect  of  righteousness  is  quietness  and 
assurance  for  ever,"  Isai.  xxxii.  17.  '.'Blessed  is  he 
which  watcheth,  and  kecpeth  his  garments"  clean, 
that  he  may  enter  with  triumph  into  that  city,  where 
nothing  shall  enter  that  defiLeth. 

3.  '  Slumbering  and  slothful  Christians  are  often- 
times left  to  wrestle  with  sore  temptations  of  Satan, 
and  have  dreadful  conflicts  in  the  day  of  death :'  and 
the  reason  is  evident,  because  they  have  not  watched 
against  their  adversary,  and  obtained  but  .few  victo- 
ries over  him  in  their  life.  These  temptations  are 
keen  and  piercing  thorns,  that  enter  deep  into  the 
heart,  of  a  dying  creature.  The  devil  may  be  let 
loose  upon  them  '  with  great  wrath,  knowing  that 
his  time  is  but  short;'  and  yet  there  is  great  justice 
in  the  conduct  of  the  God  in  heaven,  in  giving  them 
up  to  be  buffetted  by  the  powers  of  hell.  What 
frightful  agonies  are  raised  in  the  conscience,  by  the 
tempter,  and  the  accuser  of  souls,  on  a  sick  or  dying 


168  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH,  DISCOURSE  III. 

bed,   can  hardly  be  described  by  the  hving,  and  are 
known  only  to  those  who  have  felt  them  in  death. 

4.  '  Such  drowsy  Christians  make  dismal  work 
for  new  and  terrible  repentance  on  a  death  bed  ;'  for, 
though  they  have  sincerely  repented  in  times  past  of 
their  former  sins,  yet,  having  too  much  omitted  the 
self- mortifying  duties,  having  given  too  much  indul- 
gence to  temptation  and  folly,  and  having  not  main- 
tained this  habitual  penitence,  for  their  daily  offences 
in  constant  exercise,  their  spirits  are  now  filled  with 
fresh  convictions,  and  bitter  remorse  of  heart.  The 
guilt  of  their  careless  and  slothful  conduct  finds  them 
out  now,  and  besets  them  around,  and  they  feel  most 
acute  sorrows,  and  wounding  reflections  of  consci- 
ence, while  they  have  need  of  most  comfort.  What 
a  glorious  entrance  had  St.  Paul  into  the  world  of 
spirits,  and  the  presence  of  Christ?  He  had  made  re- 
pentance and  mortification  and  faith  in  Jesus,  his  dai- 
ly work  :  ''  O  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  Who  shall 
deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?  I  run,  I  fight, 
I  sui)due  my  body,  and  keep  it  under;  I  am  cruci- 
fied to  the  world,  and  the  world  to  me  ;  the  life  which 
I  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of 
God  :"  When  he  was  **  ready  to  be  oflPered  up,  and 
the  time  of  his  departure  was  at  hand,"  from  the  edge 
of  the  sword,  and  the  borders  of  the  grave,  he  could 
look  back  upon  his  former  life,  and  say,  '^  I  have 
fouji'ht  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I 
have  kept  the  faith,  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  forme 
a  crovv'n  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord  the  righte- 
ous Judge  will  give  me."  2  Tim.  iv.  7,  8. 


■DLSCOURSE  III.  SURPniSE  IN    DEATH.  169 

5.  '  The  unwatchful  Christian,  atthehour  of  death, 
havs  the  pain  and  anguish  of  reflecting,  that  he  has 
omitted  many  duties  t6  God  and  man,  and  these  can 
never  be  performed  now;'  that  he  has  done  scarce 
any  services  for  Christ  in  the  world,  and  those  must 
be  left  for  ever  undone  :  There  isiio  further  ivork  or 
deiiice,  no  labours  of  zeal,  no  activity  for  God  *  in  the 
grave,'  whither  we  are  hastening.  Eccl.  ix.  10. 
*  Alas !  I  have  brought  forth  but  little  fruit  to  God, 
and  it  is  well  if  I  be  not  cast  away  as  an  unprofitable 
servant.  My  talents  have  lain  bound  up  in  rust,  or 
been  but  poorly  employed,  whilst  I  have  lain  slum- 
bering and  unactive  :  The  records  of  my  life  in  the 
court  of  heaven,  will  shew  but  very  little  service  for 
God  amongst  men :  I  have  raised  few  monuments  of 
praise  to  my  Redeemer,  and  I  can  never  raise  them 
now.  I  shall  have  but  few  testimonies  for  my  love 
and  zeal,  to  appear  in  the  great  day  of  account,  when 
the  martyrs,  and  the  confessors,  and  the  lively  Chris- 
tians, shall  be  surrounded  with  the  living  ensigns  of 
their  victories  over  sin  and  the  w^orld,  and  their  glo- 
rious services  for  their  Redeemer.  Wretch  that  I  am ! 
That  I  have  loved  my  Lord  at  so  cold  a  rate,  and  lain 
slumbering  on  a  bed  of  ease,  whilst  I  should  have 
been  fighting  the  batdes  of  the  Lord,  and  gaining 
daily  honours  for  my  Savioin* !' 

6.  *  As  such  sort  of  Christians  give  but  little  glory 
to  God  in  life,  so  they  do  him  no  honour  in  death; 
they  are  no  ornaments  to  religion  while  they  continue 
here,  and  leave  perhaps  but  little  comfort  with  their 
friends  when  they  go  hence:'  Doubtings  and  jealou- 


-irO  SURPRISE  IN  IJEATH.  DISCOURSE  111. 

sies  about  their  eternal  welfare,  mingle  with  pur  tears 
and  sorrows  for  a  dying  friend ;  these  anxious  fears 
about  the  departed  spirit  swell  the  tide  of  our  grief 
high,  and  double  the  inward  anguish.  They  are  gone 
alas!  from  our  world,  but  we  know  not  whither  ihey 
are  gone,  to  heaven  or  to  hell.  A  sad  farewel  to 
those  whom  we  love!  A  dismal  parting-stroke,  and 
a  long  heart- ake! 

And  what  honour  can  be  expected  to  be  done  to 
God  or  his  Son,  what  reputation  or  glory  can  be  giv- 
en to  religion  and  the  gospel,  by  a  drowsy  Christian 
departing,  as  it  were,  under  a  spiritual  lethargy  ?  He 
dies  under  a  cloud,  and  casts  a  gloom  upon  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  St,  Paul  was  a  man  of  another  spirit,  a 
lively  and  active  saint,  full  of  vigour  and  zeal  in  his 
soul :  It  was  the  holy  resolution  and  assurance  of  this 
blessed  apostle,  "that  Christ  should  be  magnified  in 
his  body,  whether  by  life  or  death."  Phil.  i.  20. 
He  spent  '  his  life'  in  the  service  of  Christ,  and  he 
could  rejoice  in  'death  as  his  gain.'  It  is  a  glory  to 
the  gospel,  when  we  can  lie  down  and  die  with  cour- 
age, in  the  hope  of  its  promised  blessings.  It  is  an 
honour  to  our  common  faith,  when  it  overcomes  the 
terrors  of  death,  and  raises  the  Christian  to  a  song  of 
triumph,  in  view  of  the  last  enemy.  It  is  as  a  new 
crown  put  upon  the  head  of  our  Redeemer,  and  a 
living  cordial  put  into  the  hands  of  mourning  friends 
in  our  dying  hour,  when  we  can  take  our  leave  of 
them  with  holy  fortitude,  rejoicing  in  the  salvation  of 
Christ.  No  sooner  does  he  call  but  we  are  ready, 
knd  can  answer,  with  holy  transport,  *  Lord  I  come*' 


BISCOURSE  III.  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  17t 

This  is  a  blessing  that  belongs  only  to  the  watchful 
Christian.  May  every  one  of  us  be  awake  to  salva- 
tion in  our  expiring  moments,  and  partake  of  this 
glorious  blessedness  ! 

I  proceed  now  to  a  few  remarks,  and  particularly 
such  as  relate  to  the  necessity  and  duty  of  constant 
watchfulness,  and  the  hazardous  case  of  sleeping 
souls. 

1.  Remark.  *To  presume  on  long  life  is  a  most  dan- 
gerous temptation,  for  it  is  the  common  spring  and 
cause  of  spiritual  sleep  and  drowsiness.'  Could  we 
take  an  inward  view  of  the  hearts  of  men^  and  trace 
out  the  springs  of  iheir  coldness  and  indifference 
about  eternal  things,  and  the  shameful  neglect  of  their 
most  important  interests,  we  should  find  this  secret 
thought  in  the  bottom  of  their  hearts,  that  '  we  are 
not  like  to  die  to-day  or  to-morrow.'  They  pui  this 
evil  day  afar  off,  and  indulge  themselves  in  their  car- 
nal delights,  without  due  solicitude  to  prepare  for  the 
call  of  God.  There  is  scarce  any  thing  produces  so 
much  evil  fruit  in  the  world,  so  much  shameful  wick- 
edness amongst  the  sensual  and  the  profane,  or  such 
neglect  of  lively  religion  among  real  Christians,  as 
this  bitter  root  of  presumption  upon  life  and  time  be- 
fore us.  Matth.  xxiv.  48,  49.  *«  The  evil  servant" 
did  not  '*  begin  to  smite  his  fellows  and  to  eat  and 
drink  with  the  drunken,"  till  he  ''  said  in  his  heart, 
my  Lord  delayeth  his  coming:"  It  was  '*  while  the 
bridegroom  tarried,"  and  they  imagined  he  would 
tarry  longer,  that  even  the  wise  virgins  fell  into  slum- 
bers.     Ask  your  own  hearts,   my  friends,  does  not 


172  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  DISCOURSE  III. 

this  thought  secretly  lurk  within  you,  when  you  com- 
ply with  a  temptation,  '  surely  I  shall  not  die  yet,  I 
have  no  sickness  upon  me,  nor  tokens  of  death,  I 
shall  live  a  little  longer,  and  repent  of  my  follies?' 
Vain  expectation  and  groundless  fancy  !  When  you 
see  the  young,  and  the  strong,  and  the  healthy,  seiz- 
ed away  from  the  midst  of  you,  and  a  final  period 
put  at  once  to  all  their  works  and  designs  in  this  life. 
Yet  we  are  foolish  enough  to  imagine  our  term  of 
life  shall  be  extended,  and  we  presume  upon  months 
and  years,  which  God  hath  not  written  down  for  us 
in  his  own  book,  and  which  he  will  never  give  us  to 
enjoy. 

We  are  all  borderers  upon  the  river  of  death, 
which  conveys  us  into  the  eternal  world,  and  we 
should  be  ever  waiting  the  call  of  our  Lord,  that  we 
may  launch  away  with  joy,  to  the  regions  of  immor- 
tality :  But  thoughtless  creatures  that  we  are,  we  are 
perpetually  wandering  far  up,  into  the  fields  of  sense 
and  time,  we  are  gathering  the  gay  and  fading  flowers 
that  grow  there,  and  filling  our  laps  with  them  as  a 
fair  treasure,  or  making  garlands  for  ambition  to 
crown  our  brows,  till  one  and  another  of  us  is  called 
off  on  a  sudden,  and  hurried  away  from  this  mortal 
coast:  Those  of  us  who  survive,  are  surprised  a  lit- 
tle, we  stand  gazing,  we  follow  our  departing  friends 
with  a  weeping  eye  for  a  minute  or  two,  and  then  we 
fall  to  our  amusements  again,  and  grow  busy  as  be- 
fore, in  gathering  the  flowers  of  time  and  sense.  O 
how  fond  we  are  to  enrich  ourselves  with  these  perish- 
ing trifles,  and  adorn  our  heads  with  honours  an/i 


DISCOURSE  III.  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  173  • 

withering  vanities,  never  thinking  which  of  us  may- 
receive  the  next  summons  to  leave  all  behind  us,  and 
stand  before  God;  but  each  presumes,  *  it  will  not 
be  sent  to  me.'  We  trifle  with  God  and  things  eter- 
nal, or  utterly  forget  them,  while  our  hands  and  our 
hearts  are  thus  deeply  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  our 
earthly  delights:  All  our  powers  of  thought  and  ac- 
tion, are  intensely  busied  amongst  the  dreams  of  this 
life,  while  we  are  asleep  to  God,  because  we  vainly 
imagine  he  will  not  call  us  yet. 

2.  Remark.  *  Whatsoever  puts  us  in  mind  of  dy- 
ing, should  be  improved  to  awaken  us  from  our  spi- 
ritual sleep.'  Sudden  deaths  near  us  should  have 
this  eifect ;  our  young  companions  and  acquaintance 
snatched  away  from  among  us  in  an  unexpected 
hour,  should  become  our  monitors  in  death,  and 
teach  us  this  divine  and  needful  lesson:  The  sur- 
prising loss  of  our  friends  who  lay  near  our  hearts, 
should  put  us  in  mind  of  our  own  departure,  and 
powerfully  awaken  us  from  our  dangerous  slumbers. 
Sinners  when  they  feel  no  sorrows,  they  think  of  no 
death;  but  '  when  the  judgments  of  God  are  in  the 
earth,'  his  Spirit  can  awaken  'the  inhabitants  of  the 
world  to  learn  righteousness.'  At  such  seasons  it  is 
lime  for  'the  sinners  in  Zion'  to  be  *  afraid,'  and 
'  fearfulness  to  surprise  the  hypocrites.'  Even  the 
children  of  God  have  sometimes  need  of  painful 
warning-pieces,  to  awaken  them  tirom  their  careless, 
their  slothful,  and  their  secure  frame:  And  as  for 
those  souls  who  are  indeed  awake  to  righteousness, 
and  lively  in  the  practice  of  all  religion  and   virtue. 


ir4  SURPRISE  IN  DExVTH.  DISCOURSE  III. 

such  sudden  and  awful  strokes  of  Providence  have  a 
happy  tendency  to  wean  them  from  creatures,  and 
keep  them  awake  to  God,  that  '  when  their  Lord 
comes  he  may  find  them  watching,'  and  pronounce 
upon  them  everlasting  blessedness, 

3.  Remark.  '  No  person  can  be  exempted  from  this 
duty  of  watchfulness,  till  he  is  Lord  of  his  own  life, 
and  can  appoint  the  time  of  his  own  dying.'  Then 
indeed  you  might  have  some  colour  for  your  carnal 
indulgences,  some  pretence  for  sleeping,  if  you  were 
sovereign  of  death  and  the  grave,  and  had  the  keys 
in  your  own  hand. 

And  truly  such  as  venture  to  sleep  in  sin,  do  in 
effect  say,  *  we  are  Lords  of  our  own  life  : '  They  act 
and  manage  as  if  their  times  were  in  their  own  hands, 
and  not  in  the  hand  of  their  Maker :  But  the  watch- 
ful Christian  lives  upon  that  principle,  which  David 
professes,  Psal.  xxxi.  15.  *'  my  times  are  in  thine 
hand,"  O  Lord;  and  they  never  give  rest  to  them- 
selves till  they  can  rejoice  with  him,  and  say  to  the 
Lord,  ^^  thou  art  my  God,  into  thy  hands  1  cotrimh 
my  spirit,  for  thou  hast  redeemed  it,  and  I  leave  it 
to  thy  appointment  when  thou  wilt  dislodge  me  from 
this  body  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  call  me  into  thy 
more  immediate  presence.''  If  we  could  but  resist 
the  messenger  of  death,  when  the  Lord  of  hosts  has 
sent  it,  if  we  could  shut  the  mouth  of  the  grave  when 
the  Son  of  God  has  opened  it  for  us,  with  the  key 
that  is  entrusted  in  his  hand,  we  might  say  then  to 
our  souls,  '  sleep  on  upon  your  bed  of  ease,  and  take 
your  rest:'  But  woe  be  to  those,  who  will  venture 


DISCOURSE  III.  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  1-75 

to  sleep  in  an  unholy  and  unpardoned  state,  or  even 
allow  themselves  the  indulgence  of  short  and  sinful 
slumbers,  when  they  cannot  resist  death  one  moment, 
when  they  cannot  delay  the  summons  of  heaven, 
when  they  cannot  defer  their  appearance  before  that 
Judge,  whose  sentence  is  eternal  pleasure,  or  everv« 
lasting  pain. 

Our  holy  watch  must  not  be  intermitted  one  mo- 
ment, for  every  following  moment  is  a  grand  uncer- 
tainty.  There  is  no  minute  of  life,  no  point  of  time, 
wherein  I  can  say  *  I  shall  not  die,'  and  therefore  I 
should  not  dare  to  say,  *  this  minute  I  will  take 
a  short  slumber.'  What  if  my  Lord  should  sum- 
mon me  while  he  finds  me  sleeping  ?  His  command 
cannot  be  disobeyed,  the  very  call  and  sound  of  it  di- 
vides me  from  flesh  and  blood,  and  all  that  is  mortal, 
and  sends  me  at  once  into  the  eternal  world,  for  it  is 
an  almighty  voice. 

4.  Remark,  As  it  is  a  foolish  and  dangerous  thing, 
for  any  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men  to  presume 
upon  long  life,  and  neglect  their  watch,  so  '  persons 
vmder  some  peculiar  circumstances,  are  eminently 
called  to  be  ever  wakeful.'  Give  me  leave  here  to 
reckon  up  some  of  them,  and  make  a  particular  ad- 
dress to  the  persons  concerned. 

(1. )  'Is  your  constitution  of  body  weak  and  feeble  ?' 
You  carry  then  a  perpetual  warning  about  you  never 
to  indulge  sinful  drowsiness.  Every  languor  of  na- 
ture assures  you  that  it  is  sinking  to  the  dust:  Every 
pain  you  feel,  should  put  you  in  mind,  that  the  pains 
of  death  are  ready  to  seize  you:  You  are  tottering 


170  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  DISCOURSE  III. 

upon  the  very  borders  of  the  grave,  and  will  you 
venture  to  drop  in  before  your  hopes  of  life  and  im- 
mortality are  secured,  and  a  joyful  resurrection?  You 
pass  perhaps  many  nights,  wherein  the  infirmities 
of  your  flesh  will  not  suffer  you  to  sleep,  and  to  take 
that  common  refreshment  of  nature,  and  shall  not 
these  same  infirmities  keep  you  awake  to  things  spi- 
ritual, and  rouse  all  your  thoughts  and  cares  about 
your  immortal  interests? 

(2.)  '  You  whose  circumstances  or  employments 
of  life,  expose  you  to  perpetual  dangers  either  by 
land  or  by  sea;'  you  who  carry  your  lives  as  it  were 
in  your  hand,  and  are  often  in  a  day  within  a  few 
inches  of  death;  is  it  not  necessary  for  you  to  in- 
quire daily.  Am  I  prepared  for  a  departure  hence  ? 
Am  I  ready  to  hear  the  summons  of  my  Lord,  and 
ready  to  give  up  my  account  before  him  ?  Shall  I 
dare  go  on  another  day  with  my  sins  unpardon- 
ed, with  my  soul  unsanctified,  and  in  immediate 
danger  of  eternal  misery  ?  A  fall  from  a  horse,  or  a 
house-top,  may  send  you  down  to  the  pit  whence 
there  is  no  redemption;  every  wind  that  blows,  and 
every  rising  wave,  may  convey  you  into  the  eternal 
world,  and  are  you  ready  to  meet  the  great  God  in 
such  a  surprise,  and  without  warning? 

(3.)  You  who  are  '  young  and  vigorous,  and  flour- 
ish amidst  all  the  gaieties  and  allurements  of  life,' 
you  are  in  most  danger  of  being  lulled  asleep  in  sin, 
and  therefore  I  addressed  you  lately  in  a  funeral  dis- 
course,  w'hen  the  present   providence  gave  each  of 


DISCOURSE  III.  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH-  177" 

you  a  new  and  loud  call  to  awake,  and  I  pray  God 
you  may  hear  his  voice  in  it. 

(4.)  Perhaps  others  of  you  are  arrived  at  old  age, 
and  the  course  of  nature  forbids  you  to  expect  a  long 
continuance  in  the  land  of  the  living  :  Are  any  of  my 
hearers  ancient  sinners  and  asleep  still?  Venturous 
and  thoughtless  creatures!  That  have  grown  old  in 
slumber,  and  worn  out  their  whole  life  in  iniquities! 
Surely  it  is  time  for  you  to  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son 
of  God  in  the  gospel,  and  accept  of  his  salvation : 
Behold  the  Judge  is  at  the  door,  he  comes  speedily, 
and  he  will  not  tarry,  his  herald  of  death  is  just  at 
hand :  Are  you  willing  he  should  seize  you  in  a  dead- 
ly sleep,  and  send  you  into  eternal  sorrows  ? 

And  let  aged  Christians  bestir  themselves,  »^and 
awake  from  their  slothful  and  secure  frames  of  spirit, 
let  them  look  upward  to  the  crown  that  is  not  far  off, 
to  the  prize  that  is  almost  within  reach  :  *  Whatso- 
ever your  hand'  or  heart  *  find  to  do'  for  God,  'do  it 
with  all  your'  zeal  and  *  might :  Let  your  loins  be 
girt'  about,  and  your  natural  powers  active  in  his  ser- 
vice, '  let  your  lamp'  of  profession  be  bright  and  burn- 
ing, that  when  Jesus  comes,  ye  may  receive  him  with 
joy. 

(5.)  And  are  there  any  of  you  '  that  are  under  de- 
cays of  grace  and  piety,'  that  are  *  labouring  and 
wrestling  with  strong  corruptions,'  or  in  actual  con- 
flict with  repeated  temptations  which  too  often  pre- 
vail over  you,  it  becomes  you  to  hear  the  watch- 
word which  Christ  often  gives  to  his  churches  under 
such  circumstances :  Make  haste   and  awake   unto 


178  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  DISCOURSE  III. 

holiness,  *  be  watchful  and  strengthen  the  things  that 
remain  that  are  ready  to  die  ;  hold  fast  what  thou 
hast  received  ;  remember  thy  first  affection  and  zeal, 
and  repent'  and  mourn  for  what  thou  hast  lost,  '  lest 
I  come  upon  thee  as  a  thief,  and  thou  shalt  not  know 
the  hour  :  Remember  whence  thou  art  fallen,  and  re- 
pent, and  do  thy  first  works,  for  thou  hast  lost  thy 
first  love:'  Have  a  care  of  dangerous  luke-ivarmnessy 
and  indifference  in  the  things  of  religion.  This  is  the 
very  temper  of  a  sleepy  declining  Christian,  while  he 
dreams  he  is  rich  and  has  great  attainments  :  Take 
heed,  lest  presuming  upon  thy  riches  and  thy  self- suf- 
ficiency, thou  shouldest  be  found  '  wretched  and  mis- 
erable, and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked.'  Keep  your 
souls  awake  hourly,  and  be  upon  your  guard  against 
every  adversary,  and  every  defilement,  lest  ye  be 
seized  awav  in  the  commission  of  some  sin,  or  in 
the  compliance  with  some  foul  temptation.  The 
drowsy  soldier  is  liable  to  be  led  captive,  and  to  die 
in  fetters,  and  groan  heavily  in  death.  But  ^  bless- 
ed is  the  watchful'  Christian ;  he  shall  be  found 
amongst  the  oiier comers,  and  shall  partake  of  the  rich 
variety  of  divine  favours,  which  are  contained  in  the 
epistles  to  the  seven  churches.     Rev.  ii.  and  iii. 

Though  the  greatest  part  of  a  former  discourse, 
has  been  describing  the  blessedness  of  a  watchful 
Christian  at  the  hour  of  death,  and  in  this  I  have  set 
before  you  the  sad  consequences  that  attend  sleepers, 
(both  which  are  powerful  prcseriiathes  against  drow- 
siness) yet  at  the  conclusion  of  this  sermon,  give  mc 
leave  to  add  a  few  more  mothes  to  the  duty  of  watch- 


DISCOURSE  III.  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH-  179 

fulness,  for  we  cannot  be  too  well  guarded  against 
the  danger  of  spiritual  sloth  and  security. 

Motive  1.  *  Our  natures  at  best  in  the  present  state 
are  too  much  inclined  to  slumber.'  We  are  too  rea- 
dy to  fall  asleep  hourly :  All  the  saints  on  earth, 
even  the  most  lively  and  active  of  them,  are  not  out 
of  danger,  while  they  carry  this  flesh  and  blood  about 
them.  Indeed  the  best  of  Christians  here  below  dwell 
but  as  it  were  in  twilight,  and  in  some  sense  they  may 
be  described  as  persons  between  sleeping  and  wak- 
ing, in  comparison  of  the  world  of  spirits.  We  be- 
hold divine  things  here  but  darkly,  and  exert  our  spi- 
ritual faculties  but  in  a  feeble  manner  :  It  is  only  in 
the  other  world,  that  we  are  broad  awake,  and  in  the 
perfect  and  unrestrained  exercise  of  our  vital  powers; 
there  only  the  complete  life  and  vigour  of  a  saint  ap- 
pears. In  such  a  drowsy  state  then,  and  in  this  dusky 
hour,  we  cannot  be  too  diligent  in  rousing  ourselves, 
lest  we  sink  down  into  dangerous  slumbers.  Besides, 
if  we  profess  to  be  'children  of  the  light  and  of  the 
day,'  and  growing  up  to  a  brighter  immortality,  '  let 
us  not  sleei)  as  others  do'  who  are  the  sons  and  dau2:h- 
ters  of  night  and  darkness.      1  Thes.  v.  4,  5. 

Motive  2.  '  Almost  every  thing  around  us  in  this 
world  of  sense  and  sin,  tends  to  lull  us  asleep  again 
as  soon  as  we  begin  to  be  awake.'  The  busy  or  the 
pleasant  scenes  of  this  temporal  life  are  ever  calling 
away  our  thoughts  from  eternal  things,  they  conceal 
from  us  the  spiritual  world,  and  close  our  eyes  to 
God,  and  things  divine  and  heavenly.  If  the  eye  of 
the  soul  were  but  open  to  invisible  things,  what  live- 


180  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH,  DISCOURSE  111. 

ly  Christians  should  we  be  ?  But  either  the  winds 
of  worldly  cares  rock  us  to  sleep,  or  the  charm  of 
worldly  pleasures  soothe  us  into  deceitful  slumbers. 
We  are  too  ready  to  indulge  earthly  delights,  and 
while  we  dream  of  pleasure  in  the  creatures,  we  lose, 
or  at  least,  abate  our  delights  in  God.  Even  the 
lawful  satisfactions  of  flesh  and  sense,  and  the  entic- 
ing objects  round  about  us,  may  attach  our  hearts  so 
fast  to  them,  as  to  draw  us  down  into  a  bed  of  carnal 
ease,  till  we  fall  asleep  in  spiritual  security,  and  for- 
get that  we  are  made  for  heaven,  and  that  our  hope 
and  our  home  is  on  high. 

Motive  3.  *  Many  thousands  have  been  found  sleep- 
ing at  the  call  of  Christ :'  Some  perhaps  in  a  pro- 
found and  deadly  sleep,  and  others  in  an  hour  of 
dangerous  slumber:  Many  an  acquaintance  of  ours 
has  gone  down  to  the  grave,  when  neither  they  nor 
we  thought  of  their  dying  at  such  a  season.  But  as 
thoughdess  as  they  were,  they  were  never  the  fur- 
ther from  the  point  of  death ;  and  we  shudder  with 
horror  when  we  think  what  is  become  of  their  souls. 

While  we  are  young  we  are  ready  to  please  our- 
selves with  the  enjoyments  of  life,  and  flatter  our 
hopes  with  a  long  succession  of  them.  We  suppose 
death  to  be  at  the  distance  '  of  fifty  or  threescore 
miles;'  threescore  years  and  ten  is  the  appointed  pe- 
riod :  But  alas  !  How  few  are  there  whose  hopes  are 
fulfilled,  or  whose  life  is  extended  to  those  dimen- 
sions >  Perhaps  the  messenger  of  death  is  within  a 
furlong  of  our  dwelling;  a  few  more  steps  onv.ard, 
and  he  smites  us  down  to  the  dust* 


DISCOURSE  IV.       GLORIFIED   IN   HIS  SAINTS.  1 89 

'  seed  of  the  woman,'  till  the  time  of  his  appearance 
in  the  flesh,  all  the  chosen  of  God  have  lived  upon 
his  grace,  though  multitudes  of  them  never  knew  his 
name.  It  is  true,  the  greater  part  of  that  illustrious 
company  on  the  right  hand  of  Christ,  lived  since  the 
time  of  his  incarnation,  (for  the  *'  great  multitude 
which  no  man  could  number,  is  derived  from  the 
Gentile  nations."  Rev.  vii.  9.)  Yet  the  ancient  pa- 
triarchs, with  the  Jewish  prophets  and  saints,  shall 
make  a  splendid  appearance  there:  'One  hundred 
and  forty-four  thousand  are  sealed  among  the  tribes 
of  Israel :'  These  of  old  embraced  the  gospel  in  types 
and  shadows;  but  now  their  eyes  behold  Christ  Je- 
sus the  substance  and  the  truth.  In  the  days  of  their 
flesh  they  read  his  name  in  dark  lines,  and  looked 
through  the  long  glass  of  prophecy  to  distant  ages, 
and  a  Saviour  to  come,  and  now  behold  they  find 
complete  and  certain  salvation  and  glory  in  him. 
'*  These  all  died  in  faith,  not  having  received  the  pro- 
mises, but  having  seen  them  af.ir  olf,  and  were  per- 
suaded of  them,  and  embraced  them."  Heb.  xi.  13. 
They  died  in  the  hope  of  this  salvation,  and  they  shall 
arise  in  the  hX^s^s^d  possession  of  it. 

Behold  Abraham  appearing  there,  the  Father  of  the 
faidiful,  who  *  saw  the  day  of  Christ,'  and  rejoiced  io 
see  it,  who  trusted  in  his  Son  Jesus  two  thousand 
years  before  he  was  born:  His  elder  family  the  pious 
Jews  surround  him  there,  and  we  his  younger  cliil- 
Gh'en  among  the  Gentiles,  shall  stand  Vv  ith  him  as  the 
followers  of  his  faith,  who  trust  in  the  same  Jesus 
almost  two  thousand   years  after  he   is  dead.     How 

B  2 


190  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  DISCOURSE   IV. 

shall  we  both  *  rejoice  to  see  this  brightest  day'  of  the 
Son  of  man,  and  congratulate  each  others  faith,  while 
our  eyes  meet  and  center  in  him,  and  our  souls  tri- 
umph in  the  sight  and  love,  and  enjoyment  of  him  in 
whom  we  believed!  How  admirable  and  divinely  glo- 
rious shall  our  Lord  himself  appear  on  whom  every 
eye  is  fixed  with  unutterable  delight,  in  whom  the 
faith  of  distant  countries  and  ages  is  centered  and  re- 
conciled, and  in  whom  *  all  the  nations  of  the  earth' 
appear  to  be  '  blessed,*  according  to  the  ancient  word 
of  promise.     Gen.  xv.  and  xvii. 

Secondly^  It  is  a  further  occasion  of  pleasing  w^on- 
der,  *  that  so  many  wicked  obstinate  wills  of  men, 
and  so  many  perverse  affections,  should  be  bowed 
down,  and  submit  themselves  to  the  holy  rules  of 
the  gospel.'  This  is  another  instance  of  the  grace 
of  Christ,  and  shall  be  the  subject  of  our  joyful  ad- 
miration. Every  son  and  daughter  of  Adam  by  na- 
ture is  averse  to  God,  and  inclined  to  sin,  a  child  of 
disobedience  and  death.  Eph.  ii.  2.  There  is  a 
new  miracle  wrought  by  Christ  in  every  instance  of 
converting  grace,  and  he  shall  have  the  glory  of  them 
all  in  that  day.  It  is  a  urst  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  it  is  a  new  creation,  and  the  Almighty  power 
shall  rlien  be  publicly  adored. 

Then  one  shall  say,  '  I  was  a  sensual  sinner ^  drench- 
ed in  liquor  and  unclean  lusts,  and  wicked  in  all  the 
forms  of  lewdness  and  intemperance  :  ''  The  grace 
of  God  my  Saviour  appeared  to  me,  and  taught  me 
to  deny  worldly  lusts,"  which  I  once  thought  I  could 
never  have  parted  with,     I  loved  my  sins  as  n»y  lif^, 


DISCOURSE  IV.      GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.  191 

but  he  has  persuaded  and  constrained  me  to  cut  off 
aright  hand,  and  to  pluck  out  a  right  eye,  and  to 
part  with  my  darling  vices ;  and  behold  me  here  a 
monument  of  his  saving  mercy. 

*  I  was  enmous  against  my  neighbour,  (shall  ano- 
ther say)  and  my  temper  was  malice  and  nv rath  ;  re- 
venge was  mingled  with  my  constitution,  and  I 
thought  it  no  iniquity :  But  I  bless  the  name  of 
Christ  my  Redeemer,  who  in  the  day  of  his  grace 
turned  my  wrath  into  meekness;  he  inclined  me  to 
love  even  mine  enemies,  and  to  pray  for  them  that 
cursed  me ;  he  taught  me  all  this  by  his  own  exam- 
ple, and  he  made  me  learn  it  by  the  sovereign  influ- 
ences of  his  spirit.  I  am  a  wonder  to  myself,  when 
I  think  what  once  I  was  :  Amazing  change  and  al- 
mighty grace  !' 

Then  a  third  shall  confess,  '  I  was  2iprofann  xvretch, 
a  s^voearer^  a  blasphemer ;  I  hoped  for  no  heaven,  and 
I  feared  no  hell;  but  the  Lord  seized  me  in  the  midst 
of  my  rebellions,  and  sent  his  arrows  into  my  soul ; 
he  made  me  feel  the  stings  of  an  awakened  consci- 
ence, and  constrained  me  to  believe  there  was  a  God 
and  a  hell,  till  I  cried  out  astonished,  ivhat  shall  I  do 
to  be  saved?  Then  he  led  me  to  partake  of  his  own 
salvation,  and  from  a  proud  rebellious  infidel,  he  has 
made  me  a  penitent  and  a  humble  believer;  and  here 
I  stand  to  shew  forth  the  wonders  of  his  grace,  and 
the  boundless  extent  of  his  forgiveness.' 

A  fourth  shall  stand  up  and  acknowledge  in  that 
day,  *  And  I  was  2i  poor  carnal  covetous  creature^  who 
made  this  world  my  god,   and  abundance  of  money 


192  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND         DISCOURSE  IVi 

was  my  heaven ;  but  he  cured  me  of  this  vile  idolatry 
of  gold,  taught  me  how  to  obtain  treasures  in  the 
heavenly  world,  and  to  forsake  all  on  earth,  that  I 
might  have  an  inheritance  there;  and  behold  he  has 
not  disappointed  my  hope:  I  am  now  made  rich  in- 
deed, and  I  must  for  ever  speak  his  praises.' 

There  shall  be  no  doubt  or  dispute  in  that  day, 
whether  it  was  the  power  of  our  own  will,  or  the  su- 
perior power  of  divine  grace,  that  wrought  the  bless- 
ed change,  that  turned  a  lion  into  a  lamb,  a  grovelling 
earth-worm  into  a  bird  of  paradise,  and  of  a  covetous 
or  malicious  sinner,  made  a  meek  and  a  heavenly 
saint.  The  grace  of  Christ  shall  be  so  conspicuous 
in  every  glorified  believer  in  that  assembly,  that  with 
one  voice  they  shall  all  shout  to  the  praise  and  glory 
of  his  grace;  '*  Not  to  us,  O  Lord,  not  to  us,  but  to 
thy  Lame  be  all  the  honour."     Psal.  cxv.  1. 

Thirdly^  It  shall  be  the  matter  of  our  wonder,  and 
the  glory  of  Chiist  in  that  day,  'that  so  many  thou- 
sand guilty  wretches  should  be  made  righteous  by 
one  righteousness,  cleansed  in  one  laver  from  all 
their  iniquities,  and  sprinkled  unto  pardon  and  sanc-^ 
tificati(M-i,  with  the  blood  of  one  man,  Jesus  Christ. 
See  the  ''  great  multitude  that  no  man  can  number," 
Rev.  vii.  9,  10.  They  all  *'  washed  their  robes,  and 
made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb."  ver.  14. 

It  is  a  matter  of  wonder  to  us  now  on  earth,  that 
the  blessed  Son  of  God  who  is  one  with  the  Father, 
should  stoop  so  low  as  to  unite  himself  to  a  mortal 
nature,  that  he  should  become  a  poor  despicable  man, 
and  pass  through  a  life  of  sufferings  and  sorrows,  and 


DISCOURSE  IV.      GLORIFIED  IN   HIS  SAINTS.  193 

die  an  accursed  death,  to  redeem  us  from  guilt  and 
deserved  misery:  But  when  we  shall  see  him  in  his 
native  glory  and  lustre,  his  acquired  dignities,  and 
all  the  honours  of  heaven  heaped  upon  him,  it  will 
raise  our  wonder  high,  to  think  that  such  a  One 
should  once  humble  himself  to  the  death  of  the  cross, 
the  death  of  the  vilest  slave,  that  he  might  save  our 
souls  from  dying;  that  he  should  pour  out  his  own 
blood  to  wash  off  the  stains  of  millions  of  sins,  that 
we  might  appear  righteous  before  a  God  of  holiness. 
Then  shall  the  multitude  of  the  saved  join  in  that 
song,  'f  To  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from 
our  sinjs  in  his  own  blood,  be  glory  and  dominion  for 
ever."  Rev.  i.  5,  6.  ''Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that 
was  slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and  honour, 
for  thou  hast  redeemed  us  with  thy  blood  from  every 
kindred,  tribe  and  nation."     Rev.  v. 

Then  shall  those  blessed  words  of  Scripture  appear 
and  shine  in  full  glory,  howsoever  they  are  often  pass- 
ed over  in  silence,  and  too  much  forgotten  in  our 
age.  Rom.  v.  17,  19,  21.  "  If  by  one  man's  offence 
death  reigned  by  one;  much  more  they  which  re- 
ceive abundance  of  grace,  and  of  the  gift  of  righte- 
ousness, shall  re'gn  in  life  by  one,  Jesus  Christ.  For 
as  by  one  man's  disobedience  many  were  made  sin- 
ners, so  by  the  ol>»dience  of  one  shall  many  be  made 
righteous.  That  as  sin  hath  reigned  unto  death, 
even  so  mii^ht  grace  reign  through  righteousness 
unto  eternal  life,  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  Then 
shall  our  blessed  Lord  shine  in  the  complete  lustre 
of  that  inconimuniccible  name,  Jehovah  Tzidkenu, 
the  Lord  our  righteousness.     Jer.  xxiii.  6. 


194  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  DISCOURSE   IV. 

And  not  only  the  atonement  and  sahation  itself, 
shall  be  the  subject  of  our  glorious  admiration,  but 
the  '  way  and  manner'  how  sinners  partake  of  it,  shall 
minister  further  to  our  wonder,  and  to  the  glory  of 
Christ.  That  such  a  world  of  poor  miserable  crea- 
tures should  be  saved  from  hell,  by  believing  or  trust- 
ing in  grace,  when  they  could  never  be  saved  by  all 
their  own  works;  that  they  should  obtain  righteous- 
ness and  acceptance  unto  eternal  life,  by  a  humble 
penitence  and  poverty  of  spirit,  depending  on  the 
death  and  righteousness  of  another,  when  all  their 
labours  and  toil  in  works  of  the  law,  could  not 
make  up  a  righteousness  of  their  own,  sufficient  to 
appear  before  the  justice  of  God;  Christ  will  not  on- 
ly be  glorified  in  their  holiness  as  saints^  but  admired 
and  honoured  in  and  by  their  faith  as  believer s» 
His  blood  and  his  grace  shall  share  all  the  glory. 
*'  Therefore  it  is  of  faith,"  and  not  of  works,  **that 
it*  might  be  of  grace,"  Rom.  iv.  15.  Yet  this  saving 
faith  is  the  spring  of  shilling  holiness  in  every  believ- 
er. Duties  and  virtues  are  not  left  out  of  our  reli- 
gion, when  faith  is  brought  into  it.  The  graces  of 
the  saints  join  happily  with  the  atonement  of  Christ, 
to  render  that  day  more  illustrious. 

Fourthly,  'That  a  company  of  such  feeble  Chris- 
tians, should  maintain  their  cours*.  towards  heaven, 
through  so  many  thousand  obstacles:'  I'his  shall  be 
anotlier  subject  of  admiration,  and  yield  a  further  re- 
veniie  of  glory  to  c)ur  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  he  who 
is  their  riglueousncss  is  their  strength  also.  Isa.  xlv. 
5-4,  25.  ''  In  the  Lord  shall  all  the  seed  of  Israel  glo- 


DISCOURSE  IV.      GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAI^?T■S.  19  V 

ry''  in  that  day,  as  their  strength  and  their  salvation. 
They  have  broke  through  all  their  difficuliies,  and 
were  **  able  to  do  all  things  through  Christ  strength- 
ening them."     Phil.  iv.  13. 

Behold  that  noble  army  with  palms  in  their  hands; 
once  they  were  weak  warriors,  yet  they  overcame 
mighty  enemies,  and  have  gained  the  victory  and  the 
prize;  enemies  rising  from  earth,  and  from  hell,  to 
tempt  and  to  accuse  them,  but  *'  they  overcame  by 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb."  Rev.  xii.  7,  11.  What 
a  divine  honour  shall  it  be  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  captain  of  our  salvation,  that  weak  Christians 
should  subdue  their  strong  corruptions,  and  get  safe 
to  heaven  through  a  thousand  oppositions  within  and 
without :  It  is  all  owing  to  the  grace  of  Christ,  that 
grace  which  is  all-sufiicient  for  every  saint.  2  Cor. 
xii.  9.  They  are  '*  made  more  than  conquerors 
through  him  that  has  loved  them."     Rom.  viii.  38. 

Then  shall  the  faith,  and  courage,  and  patience  of 
the  saints,  have  a  blessed  review;  and  it  shall  be  told 
before  the  whole  creation  what  strife  and  wrestlings  a 
poor  believer  has  passed  through  in  a  dark  cottage, 
a  chamber  of  long  sickness,  or  perhaps  in  a  dungeon ; 
how  he  has  there  combated  with  powers  of  darkness, 
how  he  has  struggled  with  huge  sorrows,  and  '  has 
borne  and  has  not  fainted,'  though  he  has  been  often 
*  in  heaviness  through  manifold  temptations.'  Then 
shall  appear  ihe  bright  scene  which  St.  Peter  rci)ro- 
sents  as  the  event  of  sore  trials.  1  Pet.  i.  6,  7. 
When  our  'faith  has  been  tried  in  the  fire'  of  tribu- 
lation,  and   is   found   '  more  precious  than  gold,'  it 


196  CHRIST   xYDMIRED   AK©  DISCOURSE  IV. 

shall  shine  to  the  *  praise,  honour,  and  glory,'  of  the 
suffering^ saints,  and  of  Christ  himself  *  at  his  appear- 
ance.' 

Behold  that  illustrious  troop  of  martyrs,  and  some 
among  them  of  the  feeblest  sex  and  of  tender  age ; 
now  diut  women  should  grow  bold  in  faith,  even  in 
the  sight  of  torments,  and  children,  with  a  manly  cou- 
rage, should  profess  the  name  of  Christ  in  the  face  of 
angry  and  threatening  rulers;  that  some  of  these 
should  become  undaunted  confessors  of  the  truth, 
and  others  triumph  in  fire  and  toxture;  these  things 
shall  be  matter  of  glory  to  Christ  in  that  day;  it  was 
his  power  that  gave  them  courage  and  victory  in  mar- 
tyrdom and  death.  Every  Christian  there,  every  sol- 
dier  in  that  triumphing  army,  shall  ascribe  his  con- 
quest to  the  grace  of  his  Lord,  his  Leader,  and  lay 
down  all  their  trophies  at  the  feet  of  his  Saviour,  with 
humble  acknowledgments  and  shouts  of  honour. 

Almost  all  the  saved  number  were,  at  some  part  oi 
their  lives,  weak  in  faith,  and  yet,  by  the  grace  of 
Christ,  they  held  out  to  the  end,  and  are  crowned. 
'  I  was  a  poor  trembling  creature,  shall  one  say,  but 

1  was  confirmed  in  my  faith  and  holiness  by  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ ;  or  1  rested  on  a  naked  promise  and 
found  support,  because  Christ  was  there,  and  he  shall 
have  the  glory  of  it.'  *' In  him  are  all  the  promises 
yea,  and  in  him  Amen,   to  the  glory  of  the  Father,'^ 

2  Cor.  i.  20,  21,  22.  And  the  Son  shall  share  in 
this  glory,  for  he  died  to  ratify  these  promises,  and 
he  lives  to  fulfil  them. 


DISCOURSE  IV.   GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.        '      197 

'  Oh  what  an  almighty  arm  is  this  (shall  the  be- 
liever say)  that  has  borne  up  so  many  thous hkIs  of 
poor  sinkino^  creatures,  and  lifted  their  heads  above 
the  waves!'  The  spark  of  grace  that  lived  many 
years  in  a  flood  of  temptations,  and  was  not  quench- 
ed, shall  then  shine  bright,  to  the  glory  of  Chnst  who 
kindled  and  maintained  it.  When  we  have  been 
brought  through  all  the  storms  and  the  threatening 
seas,  and  }et  the  raging  waves  have  been  forbid  to 
swallow  us  up,  we  shall  cry  out  in  raptures  of  joy 
and  wonder,  '*  What  manner  of  man  is  this,  that  the 
winds  and  the  seas  have  obeyed  him?" 

Then  shall  it  be  gloriously  evident,  that  he  has 
conquered  Satan,  and  kept  the  hosts  of  hell  in  chains, 
when  it  shall  appear  that  he  has  made  poor  mean 
trembling  believers  victorious  over  all  the  powers  of 
darkness,  for  the  Prince  of  '  peace  has  bruised  him 
under  their  feet.' 

Fifthly,  There  is  more  work  for  our  wonder  and 
joy,  and  more  glory  for  our  blessed  Lord,  when  we 
shall  see  '  that  so  many  dark  and  dreadful  provi- 
dences were  working  together  in  mercy,  for  the  good 
of  the  saints  ;'  it  is  because  Jesus  Christ  had  the 
management  of  them  all  put  in  his  hand;  and  we 
shall  acknowledge  **he  has  done  all  things  well," 
Rom.  viii.  28.  **  All  things  have  wrought  together 
for  good."  It  is  the  voice  of  Christ  to  every  saint 
in  sorrow,  **  what  I  do  thou  knowest  not  now,  but 
thou  shah  know  hereafter,"  John  xii.  7.  I  saw  not 
then,  saiih  the  Christian,  tluit  n»y  Lord  was  curing 
my  pride,  by  such  a  threatening  and  abasing  previ- 
ew 2 


19^  '  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  DISCOURSE  IV, 

dence,  that  he  was  weaning  my  heart  from  sensual 
dehghts,  by  such  a  sharp  and  painful  wound ;  but 
now  I  behold  things  in  another  light,  and  give  thanks 
and  praises  to  my  divine  Physician. 

We  shall  look  back  upon  the  hours  of  our  impa- 
tience, and  be  ashamed;  we  shall  chicle  the  flesh  for 
its  old  rcpinings,  when  we  shall  stand  upon  the  eter- 
nal hills  of  paradise,  and  cast  our  eyes  back  upon 
yonder  transactions  of  time,  those  past  ages  of  com- 
plaint and  infirmity.  We  shall  then,  v;ith  pleasure 
and  thankfulness,  confess,  that  the  captain  of  our  sal- 
vation was  much  in  the  right  to  lead  us  through  so 
many  sufferings  and  sorrows,  and  we  were  much  in 
the  wrong  to  complain  of  his  conduct. 

Bear  up  your  spirits  then,  ye  poor  afflicted  dis- 
tressed souls,  who  are  wrestling  through  difficult 
j'rovidences  all  in  the  dark.  Bear  up  but  a  little 
longer,  "  he  that  shall  come,  will  come,  and  will  not 
tarry;"  he  will  set  all  his  conduct  in  a  fair  light,  and 
you  shall  say,  *  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  and  all  his  gov- 
ernment.' 

Sixthly^  ^  That  heaven  should  be  so  well  filled  out 
of  such  a  hell  of  sin  and  misery  as  this  world  is'  shall 
be  another  delightful  reflection  full  of  wonder  and 
glory.  Take  a  short  survey  of  mankind,  how  '  all 
flesh  has  corrupted  its  Ways'  before  God,  and  'every 
imagination  of  the  thought  of  man's  heart  is  only- 
evil,*  and  that  continually;  there  is  none  righteous, 
uo  not  one.'  Look  round  about  you  and  see  how 
iniquity  abounds,  violence,  oppression,  pride,  lust, 
!5.ensualities  of  all  kinds,  how  they  reign  among  the 


DISCOURSE   IV.      GLORIFIED  IN  HIS   SAINTS.  199 

children  of  men  :  Religion  is  lost,  and  God  forG;ot- 
ten  in  the  world;  and  yet,  out  of  tliis  wretched 
world,  Christ  has  provided  inhabitants  for  heaven, 
where  *  nothing  can  enter  that  delileth.'  Look  into 
your  own  hearts,  ye  sinners,  see  what  a  hell  lies 
there;  and  ye  converts  of  the  grace  of  Christ,  look 
into  your  hearts  too,  and  see  how  many  of  the  seeds 
of  wickedness  still  lie  hid  there;  how  much  corrup- 
tion, and  how  little  holiness;  look  inward,  and  won- 
der that  Christ  should  ever  fit  you  for  heaven,  by 
by  his  converting  and  his  sanctifying  grace. 

Look  round  the  world  again,  and  survey  the  mise- 
ries of  this  earth ;  as  many  calamities  as  there  are 
creatures,  and  perhaps  ten  times  more:  Who  is  there 
on  earth  without  his  sorrows  ?  And  sometimes  a 
multitude  of  them  meet  in  one  single  sufferer:  See 
how  toil,  and  weariness,  and  disappointment,  pover- 
ty and  sickness,  pain,  and  anguish,  and  vexatio:^, 
are  distributed  through  this  world,  that  lies  on  the 
borders  of  hell;  see  all  this,  and  wonder  at  the  grace 
of  Christ,  that  has  taken  a  colony  out  of  this  miser- 
able world,  and  made  a  heaven  of  it. 

We  shall,  many  of  us,  be  a  wonder  to  each  other 
as  VvcU  as  to  ourselves,  and  we  shall  ail  review  and 
admire  the  grace  of  Christ  in  and  towards  us  all. 
Among  the  rest,  there  are  two  sorts  of  Christians 
whose  salvation  shall  be  a  special  matter  of  wonder, 
and  these  are  the  wdancholy  and  the  uncharitable. 
The  melancholy  Christian  shall  wonder  that  ever  such 
a  sinner  as  himself  was  brought  to  heaven;  and  the 
uncharitable  shall  wonder  hov/ such  a  sinner  as  his 


200  CIIUIST   ADMIRFD  AND  DlbGOURSE  iV. 

neighbour  came  there.  The  poor  doubting  melan- 
choly soul,  who  was  full  of  fears  lest  he  should  be 
condemned,  shall  then  have  full  assurance  that  he  is 
elected  and  redeemed,  pardoned  and  saved,  when  he 
sees,  hears  and  feels,  the  salvation  and  the  glory  upryi 
him,  within  him,  and  ail  around  him,  and  he  shall 
admire  and  adore  the  grace  of  God  his  Saviour. 
The  narroiD'SOLiIcd  Christian,  who  said  his  neighbour 
would  be  damned  for  want  of  some  party  notions,  or 
for  some  lesser  failings,  shall  confess  his  uncharita- 
ble mistake,  and  shall  wonder  at  the  abounding  mer- 
cy of  Christ,  which  has  pardoned  those  errors  in  his 
nei,u:hbour,  for  which  he  had  excommunicated  and 
condemned  him.  Both  these  Christians  in  that  day, 
I  mean,  the  timorous  and  the  censorious,  shall  stand 
at  his  right-hand,  as  monuments  of  his  surprising 
grace,  who  forgave  one  the  defects  of  his  faith,  and 
t]*e  other  his  v  ant  of  Iwe  ;  and  their  souls  and  their 
toninies  shall  join-  together  to  rejoice  in  the  Lord, 
and  their  spirits  shall  magnify  their  God  and  Re- 
deemer: Christ  shall  have  his  due  revenue  of  glory 
from  both,  in  the  hour  of  their  public  salvation. 

O  nhat  honour  shall  it  add  to  the  overflowing  mer- 
cy of  Christ,  what  joy  and  wonder  to  all  the  saints, 
to  see  Paul  the  persecutor  and  blasphemer  there,  and 
Feier  who  denied  the  Lord  that  bought  him,  and 
Mary  Magdalene  that  impure  sinner!  See  what  a  foul 
and  shameful  catalogue,  what  children  of  iniquity 
are  at  last  made  heiis  and  possessors  of  heaven.  1 
Cor.  vi.  9,  10,  11.  The  fornicators  and  idolaters, 
the  thieves  and  the  ccvetcus,  tlie  drunkards,  the  re- 


DISCOURSE   IV.      ("LORIFIRO   IN  HIS  SAINTf].  201 

vilers,  and  the  extortioners.  Such  ihcy  were  iii  the 
days  oi'  igriorance  and  heathenism,  fii  fuel  ibr  the  lire 
of  hell ;  and  in  those  circumstances  they  are  uiur- 
ly  excluded  *  from  ihe  kindom  of  God,'  but  now  th.y 
find  a  pluce  in  that  blessed  assembly;  and  the  con- 
verting  i^race  of  Christ  is  admired  and  glorified,  that 
could  turn  such  sinners  iiito  saints.  O  surprising 
scene  of  rich  salvation,  w^lien  the.se  Corintiiian  con- 
verts, washed  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  renewed  by 
his  spirit,  shall  appear  in  their  Vvhite  garments  of  ho- 
liness and  glory!  Tnere  is  not  one  sinful  creature  to 
be  found  in  all  the  vast  retinue  uf  the  holy  Je^us. 
But  there  are  thousands  who  have  been  once  great 
criminals,  notorious  siimers,  and  have  been  snatch- 
ed by  the  the  arm  of  divine  love,  as  '  brands  out  of 
the  burning.'  VVHiat  an  affecting  sight  will  it  be, 
when  we  shall  behold  all  the  members  of  Christ  unit- 
ed to  their  Head,  and  complete  in  glory  ;  and  see  at 
the  same  time,  a  world  of  vile  simiers  doomed  lo  de- 
struction !  With  what  adoration  and  wonder  shall 
we  cry  out,  *'  and  such  were  some  of  these  ha}>py 
ones,  but  they  are  sanctified,  but  they  a.e  justified, 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  spirit  of 
our  God,"  ver.  11.  *  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  un- 
to us,  but  to'  God  our  Saviour  be  eternal  honour. 

Li  the  seventh  place,  There  is  another  glory  and 
wonder  added  to  to  this  illustrious  scene,  and  gives 
honour  to  our  blessed  Saviour,  and  that  is,  '  that  so 
many  vigorous,  beautiful,  and  inunortal  bod.es, 
should  be  raised  at  once  out  of  the  dust,  ;viLl;  all  their 
old   iidirmiiics   left  behind  them:'  Not  one   ach  or 


1202  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  DISCOURSE  IV. 

pain,  not  one  weakness  or  disease,  among  all  the  glo- 
rified millions:  As  the  Israelites  came  out  of  their 
bondage  in  Egypt,  so  shall  the  army  of  saints  from 
the  prison  of  the  grave,  *'and  not  one  feeble  among 
them,"  Psal.  cv.  37.  This  is  the  work  of  Christ 
the  Creator  and  the  Healer. 

Here  1  might  run  many  sorrowful  divisions,  and 
travel  over  the  large  and  thorny  field  of  sickness  and 
pains  that  attend  human  nature,  those  inborn  mis- 
chiefs that  vex  poor  Christians  in  this  state  of  trial 
and  suffering :  But  these  were  all  buried  when  the 
body  went  to  the  grave,  and  they  are  buried  forever; 
he  that  has  the  keys  of  death,  shall  let  the  bodies  of 
his  saints  out  of  prison  ;  but  no  gout  nor  stone,  no 
infirmity  nor  distemper,  no  head-ach  nor  heart-ach, 
shall  ever  attend  them.  The  body  was  *  sown  in 
weakness,  but  it  is  raised  in  power  ;'  it  was  '  sown  iii 
dishonour,  it  is  raised  in  glory,'  through  the  power 
of  the  second  Adam,  and  his  quickening  spirit.  1 
Cor.  XV.  43,  45.     Rom.  viii.  11. 

Then  shall  Christ  appear  to  be  Sovereign  and  Lord 
of  death,  when  such  an  endless  multitude  of  old  and 
new  captives  are  released  at  his  word,  and  the  grave 
has  restored  its  prey  ;  when  those  bodies  which  have 
been  turned  into  dust  some  thousands  of  years,  and 
their  atoms  scattered  abroad  by  the  winds  of  heaven, 
shall  be  raised  again  in  glory  and  dignity,  to  meet 
their  descending  Lord  in  the  air.  Surely  Jesus  in  that 
day  shall  be  acknowledged  as  a  Sovereign  of  nature, 
when,  at  the  word  of  his  command,  a  new  creation 
shall  aribc,  all  perfect  and  immortal. 


DISCOURSE  IV.     CLORIFIED  IN  HIS   SAINTS.  203 

It  ^vill  add  yet  further  glory  to  Christ,  when  we 
remember  what  fruitful  seeds  of  iniquity  were  lodged 
in  that  flesh  and  blood,  which  we  wore  on  earth,  and 
which  we  laid  down  in  the  tomb;  and  when,   at  the 
same  time,  we  survey  our  glorified  bodies,  how  spi- 
ritual, how  holy,  how  happily  fitted  for  the  service  of 
glorified  souls  made  perfect  in  holiness.   How  did  all 
the  saints  once  complain  of  a  *  law  in  their  members, 
that  warred  against  the  lawof  their  minds,  and  brought 
them  into  bondage  to  the  law  of  sin  ?'  But  this  '  law 
cf  sin'  is  now  for  ever  abolished,  this  *  bondage'  dis- 
solved and  broken,  and  these  *  members'  are  all  new- 
created,  for  *  instruments'  of '  righteousness'  to  serve 
God  in  his  temple,  for  ever  and  ever.   Holy  Paul  shall 
no  more   *  groan  in  a  sinful  tabernacle,'  he  shall  no 
more  complain  of  that  *  flesh  wherein  no  good  thing 
dwelt,'  he  shall  cry  out  no  more,  **  O  wretched  man 
that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  ?" 

Many  and  bitter  have  been  the  sorrows  of  a  holy 
soul  in  this  world,  because  of  the  perverse  disposi- 
tions of  animal  nature  and  the  flesh:  But  none  of  the 
saints  in  that  assembly  shall  ever  feel  again  the  stings 
of  inward  envy,  the  pricking  thorns  of  peevishness, 
nor  the  wild  ferments  of  '  wrath  and  passion  :'  None 
of  them  shall  ever  find  those  '  unruly  appetites'  which 
wrought  so  strongly  in  their  old  flesh  and  blood,  and 
too  often  overpowered  their  unwilling  souls,  those  ap- 
petites which  brought  their  consciences  sometimes 
under  fresh  guilt,  and  filled  them  with  inward  re- 
proaches, and  agonies  of  spirit.  These  evil  princi- 
ples are  all  destroyed  by  death,  they  are  lost   in  the 


204  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  DISCOURSE   IV. 

grave,  and  shall  have  no  resurrection.  The  new-rais- 
ed bodies  of  die  righteous  in  that  day,  shall  be  com- 
pletely obedient  to  the  dictates  of  their  spirits,  with- 
out  any  vicious  juices  to  make  rcluctcincc,  or  perverse 
humours  to  raise  an  inward  rebellion  :  And  not  only 
so,  but  perhaps  even  our  bc^dies  shall  have  home  ac- 
tive holy  tendencies,  wrought  in  them  so  far  as  cor- 
poreal nature  can  administer,  toward  the  sucred  ex- 
ercises of  a  glorified  saint.  A  sweet  and  biessed 
change  indeed!  And  Jesus  who  raided  these  bodies  in 
this  beauty  of  hoiii.ess,  shall  receive  the  glory  of  this 
divine  work. 

The  last  instance  I  shall  mention,  wherein  Christ 
shall  be  admired  in  his  saints,  is  this,  '  they  shall  ap- 
pear in  diat  day,  as  so  many  images  of  his  person,  and 
as  bO  many  monuments  of  the  success  of  his  office.' 

Is  the  blessed  Jesus  a  great  Prophet  and  the  Teach- 
er of  his  church?  These  are  the  pennons  that  have 
learnt  his  divine  doctrine,  they  have  '  heard  the  joyful 
sou  lid'  of  his  gospel,  and  the  holy  truths  of  it  are  co- 
pied out  in  their  hearts.  These  are  the  disciples  of 
his  scliool;  and  by  his  word,  and  by  his  spirit,  they 
have  been  taught  to  know  God  and  their  Saviour, 
and  ihcy  have  been  trained  up  in  the  way  to  eternal 
life. 

Is  Jesus  a  great  *  High  Priest,  both  of  sacrifice  and 
intercession?'  Behold  all  these  souls,  an  endless  num- 
ber, purified  from  their  defilements  by  the  blood  of 
his  cross,  washed  and  made  white  in  that  blessed  la- 
ver,  and  reconciled  to  God  by  his  atoning  sacrifice  : 
Behold  the  power  of  his  intercession,  in  securing  mil- 


DISCOURSE  IV.      GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.  205 

lions  from  the  wrath  of  God,  and  in  procuring  for 
them  every  divine  blessing.  He  has  obtained  for 
each  of  ihem  grace  and  glory. 

Is  Jesus  the  '  Lord  of  all  things,'  and  the  *  King  of 
his  church?'  Behold  his  subjects  waiting  on  him,  a 
numerous  and  a  loyal  multitude,  who  have  the  laws 
of  their  King  engraven  on  their  souls.  These  are  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  Adam,  whom  he  has  rescued 
by  his  power  from  the  kmgdom  of  darkness,  and  the 
hands*  of  the  devil :  He  has  guarded  them  from  the 
rage  of  their  malicious  adversaries  in  earth  and  hell, 
and  brought  them  safe  through  all  difficulties,  to  be- 
hold the  glories  of  this  day,  and  to  celebrate  the  ho- 
nours of  their  King. 

Is  he  the  '  Captain  of  salvation  ?'  See  what  a  bless- 
ed army  he  has  listed  under  his  banner  of  love  ;  and 
they  have  followed  him  through  all  the  dangers  of 
life  and  time  under  his  conduct.  These  are  the 
*  chosen,  the  called,  the  faithful.'  They  have  sus- 
tained many  a  sharp  conflict,  many  a  dreadful  battle, 
and  they  are  at  last,  '  made  more  than  conquerors 
through  him  that  has  loved  them.'  They  attribute 
all  their  victories  to  the  wisdom,  the  goodness,  and 
the  power  of  their  divine  Leader ;  and  even  stand 
amazed  at  their  own  success,  against  such  mighty 
adversaries  :  But  they  fought  under  the  banner,  con- 
duct, and  influence  of  the  '  Prince  of  life,'  the  King 
of  righteousness,  who  is  always  victorious,  and  has 
a  crown  in  his  hand  for  every  conqueror. 

Is  Jesus  the  great  *  example  of  his  saints  ?'  Behold 
the  virtues  and  graces  of  the  Son  of  God,  copied  out 

D  2 


206  "  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  DISCOURSE  IV. 

in  all  his  followers.  '  As  he  was,  so  were  they  in 
this  world,  holy,  harmless  and  undefiled,  and  separate 
from  sinners:'  As  he  now  is,  so  are  they,  glorious  in 
holiness,  and  divinely  beautiful,  while  each  of  them 
reflects  the  image  of  their  blessed  Lord,  and  they  ap- 
pear as  wonders  to  all  the   beholding  world.      They 

*  were  unknown'  here  on  earth,  even  as  '  Christ  him- 
self was  unknown  :'  This  is  the  day  appointed  to  re- 
veal  their    works   and   their  graces.     Jesus  is   the 

*  brightness  of  his  Father's  glory,  and  the  express 
image  of  Jiis  person;'  and  all  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  God  shall  then  appear,  as  so  many  pictures  of  the 
blessed  Jesus,  drawn  by  the  finger  of  the  eternal  spi- 
rit. 

And  not  their  souls  only,  but  their  glorified  bodies 
also  are  framed  in  his  likeness.  What  grace  and 
grandexir  dwells  in  each  countenance,  'as  thou  art,' 
O  blessed  Je'sus,  so  shall  they  be  in  that  day,  '  all  of 
them  resembling  the  children  of  a  king!'  Vigour  and 
health,  beauty  and  immortality,  shine  and  reign 
throughout  all  that  blessed  assembly.  The  adopted 
sons  and  daughters  of  God  resemble  the  original  and 
only  begotten  Son  :  Christ  will  have  all  his  brethren 
and  sisters  conformed  unto  his  glories,  that  they  may 
be  known  to  be  his  kindred,  the  children  of  his  Fa- 
ther, and  that  he  '  may  appear  the  first-born  among 
jnany  brethren.'  When  the  Son  of  God  breaks  open 
the  graves,  he  forms  the  dust  of  his  saints,  by  the 
model  of  his  own  glorious  aspect  and  figure,  "  and 
changes  their  vile  bodies  into  the  likeness  of  his  own 
glorious  body,    by  that  power  whereby  he  is  able  to 


DISCOURSE  IV.      GLORIFIED   IN  HIS   SAINTS,  207 

subdue  all  things  to  himself,"  Phil.  lii.  uh.  He  shall 
be  admired  as  the  bright  original,  and  each  of  the 
saints  as  a  fair  and  glorious  copy:  The  various  beau- 
ties that  are  dispersed  among  all  that  assembly,  are 
summed  up  and  united  in  himself;  *  he  is  the  chiefest 
of  ten  thousands,  and  altogether  lovely.'  One  sun 
in  the  firmament  can  paint  his  own  bright  image  at 
once,  upon  st  thousand  reflecting  glasses,  or  mirrors 
of  gold  :  What  a  dazzling  lustre  would  arise  from 
such  a  scene  of  reflections!  But  what  superior  and 
inexpressible  glory,  above  all  the  powers  of  similitude 
and  beyond  the  reach  of  comparison,  shall  irradiate 
the  world  in  that  day,  when  Jesus  the  Son  of  righte- 
ousness shall  shine  upon  all  his  saints,  and  find  each 
of  them  well  prepared  to  receive  this  lustre,  and  to 
reflect  it  round  the  creation;  each  of  them  displaying 
the  image  of  the  original  Son  of  God,  and  confessing 
all  their  virtues  and  graces,  all  their  beauties  and  glo* 
ries,  both  of  soul  and  body,  to  be  nothing  else  but 
mere  copies  and  derivations  from  Jesus,  the  first  and 
fairest  image  of  the  Father  ! 

USE. 
The  doctrines  and  the  works  of  divine  grace  are 
full  of  wonder  and  glory:  Such  is  the  person  and 
offices  of  Christ,  such  are  his  holy  and  fi^ithful  follow- 
ers, and  such  eminently  will  be  the  blessed  scene  at 
his  appearance.  In  the  foregoing  part  of  the  dis- 
course,  we  have  briefly  surveyed  some  of  those  glo- 
rious Vv'oiiders,  we  now  come  to  consider  uhat  UoC 
may  be  made  of  such  a  theme. 


208  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  DISCOURSE   IV. 

Use  1.  It  gives  us  eminently  these  two  lessons  of 
instruction. 

Lesson  1.  *  How  mistaken  is  the  jiidsrment  of  flesh 
and  sense,  in  the  thin^s^s  that  relate  to  Christ  and  his 
saints.'  The  Son  of  God  himself,  was  abused  and 
scorned  by  the  blind  world,  they  esteemed  him  as 
*' one  smitten  of  God  and  unbeloved,''  and  "they 
saw  no  beauty  nor  comeliness  in  him,"  Isa.  liii.  23. 
He  was  poor  and  despised  all  his  life,  and  he  was 
doomed  to  the  death  of  a  criminal  and  a  slave.  As 
for  the  saints,  they  find  no  more  honour  or  esteem 
among  men  than  their  Lord,  they  are  many  times 
called  and  counted  '  the  filth  of  the  world,  and  the  off- 
scouring  of  all  things,'  1  Cor.  iv.  13.  This  is  the 
judgmentof  flesh  and  sense. 

But  when  the  great  appointed  hour  is  come,  and 
Jesus  shall  return  from  heaven  *  with  a  shout  of  the 
arch  angel,  and  the  trump  of  God,'  when  he  shall  call 
lip  his  saints  from  their  beds  of  dust  and  darkness, 
and  make  the  graves  resign  those  *  prisoners  of  hope, ^ 
when  they  shall  all  gather  together  around  their 
Lord,  a  bright  and  numerous  army,  shining  and  re- 
flecting the  splendours  of  his  presence,  how  will  the 
judgment  of  flesh  and  sense  be  confounded  at  once, 
and  reversed  with  shame  !  '  Is  this  the  man  that  vvas 
loaded  with  scandal,  that  was  bufletted  with  scorn, 
and  scourged  and  crucified  in  the  land  of  Judea  ?  Is 
this  the  person  that  hung  on  the  cursed  tree,  and  ex- 
pired under  agonies  of  pain  and  sorrow  ?  Amazing 
bight  !  How  majestic,  how  divine  his  appearance  I 
The    Son    of  God,  and  the   King  of  glory  !  And 


BISCOURSE  IV.      GLORIFIED  IS  HIS  SAINTS.  ii09 

are  tliese  the  men  that  were  made  the  mockery  of  the 
world  ?  That  ivandered about  in  sheep-skins^  and  goat' 
skins,  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth?  Surprising  ap- 
pearance !  How  illustrious!  How  full  of  glory  !'  O 
that  such  a  meditation  might  awaken  us  to  judge 
more  by  faith. 

Lesson  2.  The  next  lesson  that  we  may  derive 
from  the  text  is  this,  viz.  '  One  great  design  of  the 
day  of  judgment,  is  to  advance  and  publish  the  glory 
of  Christ.'  He  shall  come  on  purpose  to  *  be  glori- 
fied in  his  saints;'  the  whole  creation  was  made  by 
him  and  for  him  ;  ihe  transactions  of  Providence, 
grace  and  justice,  are  managed  for  his  honour;  and 
the  joyful  and  terrib'c  aifairs  of  the  day  of  judgment, 
are  designed  to  display  the  majesty  and  the  power  of 
Jesus  the  King,  the  wisdom  and  equity  of  Jesus  the 
Judge,  and  the  grace  and  truth  of  Jesus  the  Saviour, 
I  will  grant  indeed,  that  the  appointment  of  this  day 
is  partly  intended  for  the  glory  of  Christ,  in  the  *  just 
destruction  of  the  impenitent,'  for  he  will  be  glori- 
fied in  pouring  out  the  vengeance  of  his  Father  upon 
rebellious  sinners:  "  The  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed 
from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels  in  fiaming  fire, 
taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and 
obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his 
power,"  ver.  7,  8,  9.  before  my  text.  '  But  his 
sweetest  and  most  valuable  revenue  of  glory  arises 
from'  among  his  saints. 


210  C.rtRlSl    ADMIR'D   ANf)  DISCOURSE   IV« 

If  the  *  messengers  of  the  churches'  are  called  *  the 
glory  of  Christ,'  with  all  the  weaknesses,  and  sins, 
and  follies  that  attend  the  best  of  them  here,  as  in  2 
Cor,  viii.  23.  much  more  shall  they  be  his  glory  here- 
after, when  they  shall  have  no  spot  nor  blemish  found 
upon  them,  and  the  work  of  Christ  upon  their  souls 
has  formed  and  finished  them,  in  the  perfect  beauty 
of  holiness.  The  saints  shall  reflect  glory  on  each 
other,  and  all  of  them  cast  supreme  lustre  on  Christ 
their  head  :  The  people  shall  be  the  crown  and  glory 
cf  the  minister  in  that  day,  and  the  minister  shall  be 
the  joy  and  glory  of  the  people,  and  both  shall  be  the 
crown,  joy  and  glory  of  oar  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  1 
Thes.  ii.  19,  20.  2  Cor.  i.  14.  2  Thes.  i.  12.  He 
shall  appear  high  on  a  throne  in  the  midst  of  that 
bright  assembly,  and  say,  '  Father,  these  are  the 
sheep  that  thou  hast  given  me,  in  the  counsels  of 
thine  eternal  love  ;  all  these  have  I  ransomed  from 
l^.ell  at  the  price  of  my  own  blood;  these  have  I  res- 
rued  by  my  grace,  from  the  dominion  of  sin  and  the 
(kvil;  I  have  formed  them  unto  holiness,  and  fitted 
them  for  heaven  ;  I  have  kept  them  by  my  power 
through  all  the  dangers  of  their  mortal  state,  and  have 
brought  them  safe  to  thy  celestial  kingdom:  All 
th'inc  arc  m'lnc^  and  all  mine  are  thine ;  I  %vas glorified 
in  them  on  earth  :  John  .svii.  10.  and  they  are  now 
my  everlastii'ig  crown  and  glory.' 

Then  shall  the  unknown  worlds  that  never  fell, 
worlds  of  aiigels  and  innocent  creatures,  and  the 
world  of  guilty  devils  and  condemned  rebels,  stand 
aud   v.oiider  togeUier   at  the  recovery  and  salvation 


DISCOURSE  IV.       GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.  211 

Christ  has  provided  for  the  fallen  sons  of  Adam. 
They  shall  stand  amazed  to  see  the  niillions  of  apos- 
tate creatures,  the  inhabitants  of  this  earthly  globe, 
recovered  to  their  duty  and  allegiance  by  the  Son  of 
God,  going  down  to  dwell  amongst  them  ;  millions  of 
impure  and  deformed  souls  restored  to  the  divine  im- 
age, and  made  beautiful  as  angels,  by  the  grace  and 
spirit  of  our  Lord  Jesus.  Those  spectators  shall  be 
filled  with  admiration  and  transport,  to  see  such  a 
multitude  of  criminals  pardoned  and  justified,  for  the 
sake  of  a  righteousness  which  they  themselves  never 
wrought,  and  accepted  as  righteous  in  the  sight  of 
God,  by  a  covenant  of  grace  unknown  to  other 
worlds,  and  by  faith  in  the  great  Mediator.  They 
shall  wonder  to  see  such  an  innumerable  company 
of  polluted  wretches,  washed  from  their  sins  in  so 
precious  a  laver  as  the  blood  of  God's  own  Son  :  And 
he  that  hung  upon  the  cross  as  a  spectacle  of  wretch- 
edness at  Jerusalem,  shall  entertain  the  superior  and 
inferior  worlds  with  the  sight  of  his  adorable  and  di- 
vine glories,  and  the  spoils  he  has  brought  from  the 
regions  of  death  and  hell.  Thus  to  ^  the  principali- 
ties and  powers  in  heavenly  places,  shall  be  made 
known  by  the  church  triumphant,  the  manifold  wis- 
dom,' and  the  manifold  grace  of  God  the  Father,  and 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  Eph.  iii.  10. 

But  tremble,  Oh  ye  obstinate  and  impenitent 
wil'tches,  ye  sensual  sinners,  ye  infidels  of  a  Chris- 
tian nanie  and  nation,  Christ  wiil  be  gloritied  in  you 
one  wav  or  another  :  If  vour  hearts  are  not  bowed 
and  melted  to  receive  his  gospel,  you  shall  be  *  pun- 


212  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  DISCOURSE  IV. 

islied  with  everlasting  destruction'  among  those  that 
*  know  not  God,  and  obey  not  the  gospei  of  his  Son/ 

Tremble,  ye  sensual  and  ye  profane  sons  of  ini- 
quity, when  ye  remember  this  day,  when  ye  shall  see 
the  holy  souls  that  ye  scorned,  with  crowns  on  their 
heads,  and  palms  in  their  hands,  with  the  shout  of 
victory  and  joy  on  their  tongues,  and  the  God- man 
whom  ye  despised,  and  whose  grace  ye  neglected, 
shining  at  the  head  of  that  bright  assembly. 

Tremble,  ye  infidels,  ye  despisers  of  die  name  of  a 
crucified  Christ,  behold  his  cross  is  become  a  throne, 
and  his  crown  of  thorns  a  crown  of  glory  :  See  the 
man  whom  ye  have  scorned  and  reproached,  at  the 
head  of  millions  of  angels,  and  adored  by  ten  thou- 
sand times  ten  thousand  saints^  while  wicked  princes 
and  captains,  armies  and  nations  of  sinners,  wait 
their  doom  from  his  mouth,  nor  dare  hope  for  a  word 
of  his  mercy.  O  make  haste,  and  come  and  be  re- 
conciled to  him,  and  to  God  by  him,  that  ye  may  be- 
long to  that  blessed  .  assembly,  that  ye  may  bear  a 
part  in  the  triumphs  of  that  day,  and  that  Christ  may 
be  glorified  in  your  recovery  from  the  very  borders 
of  damnation. 

This  thought  leads  me  to  the  next  use, 

II.  This  discourse  gives  '  rich  encouragement  to 
the  greatest  sinners  to  hope  for  mercy,  and  to  the 
weakest  saints  to  hope  for  victory  and  salvation.' 
Such  sort  of  subjects  of  the  grace  of  Christ,  shall 
yield  him  some  of  the  brightest  rays  of  glory  at  the 
last  day.  Yet,  sinners,  let  me  charge  you  here  never 
to  hope  for  this  happiness  without  solemn  repentance, 


DISCOURSE  IV.      GLORIFIED  IN  HIS   SAINTS.  213 

and  an  entire  change  of  heart  unto  holhiess,  for  an 
unholy  soul  would  be  a  fearful  blemish  in  that  assem- 
bly, and  a  disgrace  to  our  Lord  Jesus.  Christians  I 
would  charge  you  also  never  to  hope  for  the  happi- 
ness of  this  day,  without  battle  and  conquest,  for  all 
the  members  of  that  assembly  must  be  overcomers ; 
but  where  there  is  a  hearty  desire  and  longing  after 
grace  and  salvation,  let  not  the  worst  of  sinners  des- 
pair, nor  the  weakest  believer  let  go  his  hope,  for  it 
is  such  as  you  and  I  are,  in  whom  Christ  will  be  mag- 
nified in  that  day. 

Believe  this.  Oh  thou  humbled  and  convinced  sin- 
ner, who  complainest  thy  heart  is  hard,  though  thou 
wouldest  fain  repent  and  mourn ;  who  fearest  the 
bonds  of  thy  corruptions  are  so  strong  that  they  shall 
never  be  broken  ;  believe  that  the  sovereign  grace  of 
Christ  has  designed  to  exalt  itself  in  the  sanctinca- 
tion  of  such  unholy  souls  as  thou  art,  and  in  melting 
such  hard  hearts  as  thine.  And  thou  poor  trembling 
soul  that  wouldest  fain  trust  in  a  Saviour,  but  art 
afraid,  because  of  the  greatness  of  thy  guilt,  and 
thine  abounding  iniquities,  believe  this,  that  '  where 
sin  has  abounded,  grace  has  much  more  abounded:' 
It  is  from  the  bringing  jsuch  sinners  as  thou  art  to 
heaven,  that  the  choicest  revenues  of  glory  shall  arise 
to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thy  acclamations  of 
joy  and  honour  to  the  Saviour,  shall  perhaps  be  loud- 
est in  that  day,  '  when  he  shall  come  to  be  glorified 
in  his  saints,  and  admired  in  all  them  that  believe.' 

Read  1  Tim.  i.  13,  14,  15,  and  16.  and  see  there 
what  an  account  the  great  Apostle  gives  of  his  own 

E  2 


214  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  DISCOURSE  IV« 

conversion;  <*  I  was  a  blasphemer,  and  a  persecutor, 
and  injurious,  yet  I  obtained  mercy;  and  the  grace 
of  our  Lord  was  exceeding  abundant  with  faith,  and 
love,  which  is  in  Jesus  Christ."  Now  I  am  sent  to 
publish  and  preach  to  blasphemers  and  persecutors, 
that  '*this  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  ac- 
ceptation, that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to 
save  sinners;  of  whom  I  am  chief.  Howbeit,  for 
this  cause  I  obtained  mercy,  that  in  me  first,  Jesus 
Christ  might  shew  forth  all  long- suffering,  for  a  pat- 
tern to  them  which  should  hereafter  believe  on  him 
to  life  everlasting." 

Turn  to  another  text,  ye  feeble  believers,  2  Cor, 
xii.  9,  10.  there  you  shall  find  the  same  Apostle  a 
convert  and  a  Christian,  but  too  weak  to  conflict  with 
the  messenger  of  Satan  that  buffetted  him,  nor  able 
to  release  himself  from  that  sore  temptation  that  lay 
heavy  upon  him  ;  but  having  received  a  word  from 
Christ  that  his  '  grace  was  sufficient,  and  that  his 
'  strength  was'  to  shine  '  perfect  in  glory  in  the  midst 
of  our  weakness,'  the  Apostle  encourages  himself  to  a 
joyful  hope:  Now,  says  he,  I  can  even  "  glory  in  my 
infirmities  (so  far  as  they  are  without  sin)  that  the 
power  of  Christ  may  rest  upon  me;  when  I  am  weak" 
in  myself,  **  I  am  strong"  in  the  Lord. 

Are  not  the  most  diseased  patients  the  chief  hon- 
ours of  the  physician  that  hath  healed  them  ?  And 
must  not  these  appear  eminently  in  that  day,  when 
he  displays  to  the  sight  of  the  world  the  noblest  mon- 
uments of  his  healing  power  ?  When  cripples  and  in- 
valids gain  tJie  victory  over  mighty  enemieS;  is  not- 


DISCOURSE  IV.      GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.  21j; 

the  skill  and  conduct  of  their  leader  most  admired  ? 
You  are  the  persons  then  in  whom  Christ  will  be  glo- 
rified, be  of  £^ood  cheer,  receive  his  offered  grace, 
and  wait  for  his  salvation. 

III.  The  next  use  I  shall  make  of  this  discourse,  is 
to  draw  a  *  word  of  advice'  from  it.  *  Learn  to  des- 
pise those  honours  and  ornaments  in  this  world,  in 
which  Christ  shall  have  no  share  in  the  world  to 
come.'  1  do  not  say,  *  cast  them  all  away,'  for  many 
things  are  needful  in  this  life,  that  can  have  no  imme- 
diate regard  to  the  other;  but  *  learn  to  despise  them,' 
and  set  light  by  them,  because  they  reach  no  further 
than  time,  and  shall  be  forgotten  in  eternity.  Never 
put  the  higher  esteem  on  yourselves  or  your  neigh- 
bours, because  of  the  gay  glitterings  of  silk  or  silver; 
nor  let  these  employ  your  eyes  and  your  thoughts  in 
the  time  of  worship,  v/hen  the  things  of  the  future 
world  should  fill  up  all  your  attention;  nor  let  them 
entertain  your  tongues  in  your  friendly  visits,  so  as 
to  exclude  the  discourse  of  divine  ornaments,  and  the 
glorious  appearance  of  our  Lord  Jesus. 

When  I  am  to  put  on  my  best  attire,  let  me  consi- 
der, if  I  am  hung  round  with  jewels  and  gold,  these 
must  perish  before  that  solemn  day,  or  melt  in  the 
la'3t  great  burning,  they  can  add  no  beauty  to  me  in 
that  assembly.  If  I  put  on  love,  and  faith,  and  hu- 
mility, I  shall  shine  in  these  hereafter,  and  Christ 
shall  have  some  rays  of  glory  from  them.  O  may 
your  souls  and  mine  be  drest  in  those  graces  which 
are  ''  ornaments  of  great  price  in  the  sight  of  God  !" 
1  Pet.  iii.  3,  4.     Such  as  may  command  the  respect 


216  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  DISCOURSE    IV. 

of  angels,  and  reflect  honour  upon  Christ  in  that  so- 
lemnity ! 

I  confess  we  dwell  in  flesh  and  blood,  and  human 
nature  in  the  best  of  us  is  too  much  imprest  by  things 
sensible  :  When  we  see  a  train  of  human  pomp  and 
grandeur,  and  long  ranks  of  shining  garments  and 
equipage,  it  is  ready  to  dazzle  our  eyes,  and  attract 
our  hearts  :  Vain  pomp,  and  poor  equipage,  all  this, 
when  compared  with  the  triumph  of  our  blessed 
Lord,  at  his  appearance  with  an  endless  army  of  his 
holy  ones ;  where  every  saint  shall  be  vested  (not  in 
silks  and  gold)  but  in  robes  of  refined  light,  out- shin- 
ing the  sun,  such  as  Christ  himself  wore  in  the  mount 
of  transfiguration.  Millions  of  suns  in  one  firma- 
ment of  glory.  Think  on  that  day,  and  the  illustrious 
retinue  of  our  Lord:  Think  on  that  splendor  that 
shall  attract  the  eyes  of  heaven  and  earth,  shall  con- 
found the  proud  sinner,  and  astonish  the  inhabitants 
of  hell :  Such  a  meditation  as  this  will  cast  a  dim 
shadow  over  the  brightest  appearances  of  a  court,  or 
a  royal  festival ;  it  will  spread  a  dead  colouring  over 
all  the  painted  vanities  of  this  life  ;  it  will  damp  eve- 
ry thought  of  rising  ambition  and  earthly  pride,  and 
we  shall  have  but  little  heart  to  admire  or  wish  for 
any  of  the  vain  shows  of  mortality.  Methinks  every 
gaudy  scene  of  the  present  life,  and  all  the  gilded  ho- 
nours  of  courts  and  armies,  should  grow  faint,  and 
flide  away,  and  vanish,  at  the  meditation  of  this  illus- 
trious appearance. 

IV.  This  text  will  give  us  also  two  hints  of  caiL- 
tion. 


DISCOURSE  IV.      GLORIFIED  IN  HIS   SAINTS.  217 

First,  *  You  that  are  rich  in  this  world,  or  wise,  or 
mii^hty,  dare  not  ridicule  nor  scoff  at  those  poor 
weak  Christians,  in  whom  Christ  shall  be  admired 
and  ^^lorified  in  the  last  day.'  You  that  fancy  you 
have  any  advantages  of  birth  or  beauty,  of  mind  or 
body  here  on  earth,  dare  not  make  a  jest  of  your  poor 
pious  neighbour  that  wants  them,  for  he  is  one  of 
those  persons  whom  Christ  calls  his  glory,  and  he 
himself  has  given  you  warning,  lest  you  incur  his  re- 
sentment  on  this  account,  Matth.  xviii.  6.  **  Whoso 
shall  offend  one  of  the^e  little  ones  which  believe  in 
me,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone  were  hang- 
ed about  his  neck,  and  that  he  were  drowned  in  the 
depth  of  the  sea.''  Perhaps  the  good  man  has  some 
blemish  in  his  outward  form,  or  it  may  be  his  coun- 
tenance is  dejected,  or  his  mien  and  fiii;ure  awkward 
-and  uncomely;  perhaps  his  garments  sit  wrong  and 
vmfasH finable  upon  him,  or  it  may  be  they  hang  in 
tatters ;  the  motions  of  his  body  perhaps  are  ungrace- 
ful, his  speech  imi^roper,  and  his  deportment  is  simple 
and  unpolishefl ;  hnx  he  has  shining  graces  in  his 
soul,  in  which  Christ  shall  be  admired  in  the  last 
day,  and  how  darest  thou  make  him  thy  laui^hing- 
stock  ?  Wilt  thou  be  willing  to  hear  thy  scornful  jest 
repeated  a^ain  at  that  day,  when  the  poor  derided 
Christian  has  his  robes  of  glory  on,  and  the  Judge  of 
all  shall  acknowledge  him  for  one  of  his  favourites  ? 

The  seccnd  Wxni  of  caution  is  this,  '  You  that  shall  be 
the  glory  of  Christ  in  that  day,  dare  not  do  any  thing 
that  may  dishonour  him  now.'  Walk  answerable  to 
your  character  and  your  hope,  nor  indulge  the  least 


21S  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  DISCOURSE  IV. 

sinful  defiiement.  Say  within  yourselves,  *  Am  I  to 
make  one  in  that  splendid  retinue  of  my  Lord,  where 
every  one  must  appear  in  robes  of  holii\ess,  and  shall 
I  spot  my  garments  with  the  flesh  ?  When  I  am  pro- 
voked to  anger  and  indignation,  let  me  say,  doth 
w  rath  and  bluster  become  a  follower  and  an  attendant 
of  the  meek  and  peaceful  Jesus  ?  When  lam  tempt- 
ed to  pride  and  vanity  of  mind,  will  this  be  a  beauty, 
or  a  blemish,  to  that  assembly  that  shines  in  glorious 
humility  ?  Or  perhaps  I  am.  wavering,  and  ready  to 
yield,  and  become  a  captive  to  some  foolish  tempta- 
tion; but  how  then  can  I  expect  a  place  in  that  holy 
triumph,  which  is  appointed  for  none  but  c  -nquerors? 
And  how  shall  I  be  able  to  look  my  blessed  General 
in  the  face  on  that  day,  if  I  prove  a  coward  under  his 
banner,  and  abandon  my  profession  of  strict  holiness^ 
at  the  demand  of  a  sinful  and  threatening  world  ?' 

V.  The  last  use  I  shall  make  of  the  text,  is  matter 
of  '  consolation  and  joy'  to  two  sorts  of  Christians. 

First y  *  To  the  poor,  mean,  and  despised  followers 
of  Christ,'  and  in  whom  Christ  himself  is  despised  by 
the  unp;odly  world  ;  read  my  text,  and  believe  that 
in  you,  Christ  shall  be  glorified  and  admired,  when, 
with  a  million  of  angels,  he  shall  descend  from  hea- 
ven, and  make  his  last  appearance  upon  earth  ;  mean 
as  you  are  in  your  own  esteem,  because  of  your  ig- 
norance and  your  weakness  in  this  world,  you  shall 
be  one  of  the  glories  of  Christ  in  the  world  to  come; 
Little  and  despicable  as  you  are  in  the  esteem  of 
proud  sinners,  they  shall  bt^hold  your  Lord  exalted 
on  his  throne,  and  you  sitting  among  the  honours  at 


UiSCOURSE   IV.      GLORIFIED   IN  HIS  SAINTS.  219 

his  right  hand,  while  they  shall  rage  afar  ofF,  and 
gnash  their  teeth  at  your  glory  :  When  the  eye  of 
faijth  is  open,  it  can  spy  this  bright  hour  at  a  distance, 
and  bid  the  mourning  Christian  rejoice  in  hope. 

Secondly^  There  is  comfort  also  in  my  text,  to  those 
*  who  mourn  for  the  dishonour  of  Christ  in  the  world ;' 
those  lively  members  of  the  mystical  body  who  sym- 
pathize with  the  blessed  Head,  under  all  the  re- 
proaches that  are  cast  upon  him  and  his  gospel,  who 
groan  under  the  load  of  scandal  that  is  thrown  upon 
Christ  in  an  infidel  age,  as  though  it  were  personally- 
thrown  upon  themselves.  It  is  matter  of  lamenta- 
tion indeed,  that  there  are  but  few  of  this  sort  of 
Christians  in  our  day,  few  that  love  our  Lord  Jesus 
with  such  tenderness;  but  if  such  there  be  among 
you,  open  your  eyes,  ar^d  look  forward  to  this  glori- 
ous day.  This  day,  to  which  t'noch,  the  first  of  all 
the  prophets,  and  John,  the  last  of  all  the  Apostles, 
directs  our  f.iith.  Read  their  own  words,  Jude  14, 
\^,  Rev.  i.  7.  "  Behold,  the  Lord  cometh  with  ten 
thousands  of  his  saints,  to  execute  judgment  upon 
all,  and  to  convince  all  that  are  ungodly  among  them.; 
of  all  their  ungodly  deeds  which  they  have  ungodlily 
committed,  and  of  all  the  hard  speeches,  which  un- 
godly sinners  have  spoken  against  him.  Behold,  he 
cometh  with  clouds;  and  every  eye  shall  see  him, 
and  they  also  which  pierced  him  :  And  all  kindreds 
of  the  eartti  shall  wail  because  of  him.''  Bear  up 
your  hearts,  yc  mourners,  and  support  your  hopes 
with  the  promise  of  our  Lord.  *'  Again,  a  little 
while  and  ye  shall  see  me  ;■'  ye  shall  see  *^  the  Son 


220  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  DISCOURSE  IV. 

of  man  sitting  on  the  throne  of  his  irlory."  Matt.  xxv. 
31.  'Then  shall  your  heart  rejoice'  in  his  honours 
and  in  your  own,  and  this  "joy  no  man  taketh  from 
you,"  John  xvi.  19,  22.  Aiid  while  he  repeats  this 
promise  with  his  last  words  in  the  Bible,  '  surely  I 
come  quickly,'  let  every  soul  of  us  echo  to  the  voice 
of  our  beloved,  Amen,     Even  so  come  Lord  Jesus, 


DISCOURSE  V. 

THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 

Rev.  vi.   15,  16,  17. 

And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  men,  and  the 
.  rich  men,  and  the  chief  captains,  and  the  mighty  men^ 
and  coery  bond- man,  atid  every  free-man  hid  tbem- 
sehes  in  the  dens,  and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains  ; 
and  said  to  the  mountains  and  rocks ,  fall  on  us,  and 
hide  usjrom  the  face  of  him  that  sittethon  the  throne, 
and  from  the  -wrath  of  the  Lamb:  For  the  great  day  of 
his  %vrath  is  come;  and  who  shall  be  able  to  stand, 

WHEN  some  terrible  judgment,  or  execution  of 
divine  vengeance  is  denounce  1  against  an  age  or  a 
nation,  it  is  sometimes  described  in  the  language  of 
prophecy,  by  a  resemblance  to  the  last  and  great 
judgment-day,  when  all  mankind  shall  be  called  to 
account  for  their  sins,  and  the  just  and  fmai  indig- 
nation of  God  shall  be  executed  upon  obstinate  aiid 
unrepentipg  criminals;  the  discourse  of  out  Saviour 
in  the  xxivth  of  Matthew,  is  an  eminent  example  of 
this  kind,  where  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  na- 
tion is  predicted,  together  with  the  final  jiidfMuent 
of  the  world,  in  such  uniform  language,  aiKJ  sniiilar 
phrases  of  speech,  that  it  is  difficult  to  siiy,  whether 
both  these  scenes  of  vengeance  run  ti.roui^h  tlie 
wholl  discourse,  or  which  ptirt  of  the  discourse  be- 


:222  THE  WRATH   OF   THE  LAMB.  DISCOURSE   V. 

longs   to   the   one,   and  which  to  the  other.     The 
same  manner  of  prophecy  appears  in  this  text. 

Learned  interpreters  suppose  these  words  to  fore- 
tel  the  universal  consternation  which  was  found 
amongst  the  heathen  idohiters  and  persecutors  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  when  Constantine,  the  first  Chris- 
tian Emperor,  was  raised  to  the  throne  of  Rome, 
and  became  governor  of  the  world.  But  whether 
they  hit  upon  the  proper  application  of  this  prophecy 
or  not,  yet  still  it  is  pretty  evident,  that  this  scene 
of  terror  is  borrowed  from  the  last  judgment,  which 
will  emmently  appear  to  be  the  ''day  of  wrath,"  as 
it  is  called,  Rom.  ii.  5.  It  is  the  great  day  of  divine 
indignailon,  in  so  eminent  a  manner,  that  all  the  tre- 
mendous desolations  of  kingdoms  and  people,  from 
the  creation  of  the  world,  to  the  consummation  of 
all  things,  shall  be  but  as  shadows  of  that  day  of 
terror  and  \eiigeance. 

I  shall  therefore  consider  these  words  at  present, 
as  they  contain  a  solemn  representation  of  that  last 
glorious  and  dreadful  day  ;  and  here  I  shall  enquire 
particularly,  (1.)  '  Who  are  the  persons  whose  aspect 
and  appearance  shall  then  be  so  dreadful  to  sinners? 
(2.)  How  comes  the  wrath  'which  discovers  itself  at 
that  time  to  be  so  formidable?  and  (3.)  How  vain 
will  all  the  shifts  and  hopes  of  sinners  be,  in  that 
dreadful  day,  to  avoid  the  wrath  and  vengeance.' 

First,  Who  are  the  persons  that  appear  clothed  in 
so  much  terror  ? 

Ansiv.  It  is  he  that  ''sits  upon  the  throne  and  the 
Lamb:"    It  is  God  the  Father  of  all,  the  great  and 


msCOURSE  V.  THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB,  223 

Almighty  Creator,  the  supreme  Lord  and  Governor 
of  the  world,  and  the  Lamb  of  God,  i.  e.  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  dwelling  in  human  nature, 
to  whom  the  judf^ment  of  the  world  is  committed, 
and  by  whom  the  Father  will  introduce  the  terrible 
and  the  illustrious  scenes  of  that  day,  and  maniige 
the  important  and  eternal  affairs  of  it.  It  it  by  these- 
names  that  the  Apostle  John,  in  this  prophetical 
book,  describes  God  the  Father  and  his  Son  Jesus, 
Rev.  iv.  10.  and  v.  6.  — 13. 

If  it  be  enquired,  why  God  the  Father  is  describ- 
ed as  the  person  'sitting  on  the  throne,'  this  is 
plainly  agreeable  to  the  other  representations  of  him 
throughout  the  Scripture,  where  he  is  described  as 
first  and  supreme  in  authority,  as  sitting  on  the 
throne  of  majesty  on  high,  as  denoting  and  commis- 
sioning the  Lord  Jesus,  his  well-beloved  Son,  to  act 
f(Dr  him,  and  as  placing  him  on  his  throne,  to  execute 
his  w^orks  of  mercy  or  vengeance.  Rev.  iii,  21.  <*H[e 
thatovercometh  shall  sit  down  with  me  on  my  throne," 
saith  our  Saviour,  '*  even  as  I  have  overcome,  and  am 
setdown  with  the  Father  on  his  throne."  Johnv.  22, 27. 
*The  Father  hath  committed  all  judgment  into  the 
hands  of  the  Son."  It  is  true,  the  Godhead  or  divine 
essence  is  but  one,  and  it  is  the  same  Godhead  which 
belongs  to  the  Father  that  dwells  in  the  Son,  and  in 
this  respect  ^'Christ  and  the  Father  are  one,  he  is  in 
the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  him,"  John  x.  30,  38  ; 
yet  the  Fither  is  constantly  exhibited  in  Scri[)turc, 
with  peculiar  characters  of  prime  authority,  and  the 


22-i  THE  WRATH   OF  THE  LAMB.  DISCOURSi:   V. 

Son  is  represented  as  receiving  all  from  the  Father. 
John  V.   19,  £0,  22,  526,  27. 

If  it  be  farther  enquired,  *  why  Christ  is  called  the 
Lamb  of  GocL'  I  shall  not  pursue  those  many  fine 
metaphors  and  similes,  in  which  the  v.  it  and  fancy 
of  men  have  run  a  long  course  on  this  subject ;  but 
shall  only  mention  these  two  tilings. 

1.  He  is  called  the  Lamb,  from  the  innocence  of 
his  behaviour,  the  quietness  and  meekncbs  of  his  dis- 
position and  conduct  in  the  world.  The  character  of 
JchUs,  among  men,  was  peaceful,  and  harmless,  and 
patient  of  injuries;  "when  he  was  reviled,  he  reviled 
not  again,  but  was  led  as  a  Lamb  to  the  slaugliter," 
widi  submission,  and  without  revenge  :  This  re- 
semblance appears,  and  is  set  forth  to  view  in  several 
Scrijjiures,  wherein  he  is  compared  to  this  gentle 
creature.   Acts  viii.  32.    1  Pet.  ii.  23. 

2.  He  is  called  the  Lanib,  because  he  was  appoint- 
ed a  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  men;  John  i.  29.  ''Be- 
hold the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sins 
of  the  world.''  1  Pet.  i.  18, 19.  *'You  were  redeemed 
with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  lamb  with- 
out blemish,  and  without  spot."  It  was  a  lamb  that 
was  ordained  for  the  constant  daily  sacrifice  amongst 
the  Jews,  morning  and  evening,  to  typify  the  con- 
stant and  everlasti?)g  infiuence  of  the  atonement  made 
by  the  death  of  Christ.  Heb.  x.  11,  12.  It  was  a 
lamb  which  was  sacrificed  at  the  passover,  and  on 
which  the  families  of  Israel  feasted,  to  commemorate 
their  redemption  from  the  slavery  of  Egypt,  and  to 
typify  Christ  who  is  ''our  passover,  who  was  sacrific- 


DISCOURSE   V.  THK   WRATH   OF  THE  LAMB.  22:y 

Q(\  for  us,"  and  for  whose  sake  the  destroying  angel 
spares  ail  lliat  irust  in  him,       C  )  .  v.  7. 

But  will  a  /a//ilf  discover  such  dreadful  wraih  ? 
lL»b  the  Lamb  i.f  God  such  indignation  iu  him  ^ 
Can  the  meek,  the  comjiassionate,  the  niercilui  Son 
of  God,  put  ou  such  t?rril)le  forms  and  aj)pearances  r 
Are  his  tender  mercies  vanished  quite  away,  and 
will  he  renounce  the  kind  aspect,  and  the  gentle 
lanL^uage  of  a  lamb  for  ever  ? 

To  this  I  answer,  that  the  various  glories  and  of- 
fices of  our  !)lessed  Lord,  require  a  variety  of  human 
metaphors  and  emblen^s  to  represent  them.  He  was 
a  lamb,  full  of  gentleness,  meekness,  and  ompas- 
sion,  to  invite  and  encourage  sinful  perishing  crea- 
tures, to  accept  of  divine  mercy:  But  he  has  now  to 
deal  with  obstinate  and  rebellious  criminals,  who  re- 
nounce his  Father's  mercy,  and  resist  all  the  gentle 
methods  of  his  own  grace  and  salvation  :  And  he  is 
sent  by  the  Father  to  punish  those  rebellions,  but  he 
is  named  'the  Lamb  of  God'  still,  to  put  the  rebels 
in  mind  what  gentleness  and  compassion  diey  have 
affronted  and  abused,  and  to  make  it  ap))ear  that  their 
guilt  is  utterly  inexcusable. 

Let  us  remember,  Christ  is  now  a  Lauib.  raised  to 
the  throne  in  heaven,  and  furnished  and  armed  'with 
seven  eyes  and  seven  horns,'  with  perfect  knowled^-c 
and  j^erfect  pov\er,  to  govern  the  world,  to  vindicat'; 
his  own  honour,  and  to  avenge  himself  upon  his  in)- 
penitent  and  obstinate  enemies.  Rev.  v.  5,  6.  Herr 
the  Lamb  will  assume  the  name  c^f  the  "Lion  of  the 
tribe  of  Judah"    also,  and  he   must  act  in  fi*(il*rent 


226  THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB.  "ttlSCOURSE  V, 

characters,  according  to  the  persons  he  has  to  deal 
with. 

Tlie  s-cco?id  p^eneral  question  which  we  are  to  con- 
sider, is,  '  How  comes  the  wralh  of  that  great  day  to 
be  so  terrible  ?' 

I  answer  in  general,  because  it  is  not  only  the 
<  wrath  of  God,'  but  of  '  the  Lamb  :'  It  is  the  wrath 
that  is  manifested  for  the  affronts  of  divine  authority, 
and  the  abuse  of  divine  mercy:  It  is  wrath  that  is 
awakened  by  the  contempt  of  the  laws  of  God,  writ- 
ten in  tlie  books  of  nature  and  Scripture,  and  for  the 
contempt  of  his  love  revealed  in  the  Gospel  by  Jesus 
Christ. 

It  is  proper  to  observe  here,  that  the  *  wrath  of 
God,'  and  the  *  wrath  of  the  Lamb,'  are  not  to  be  con- 
ceived as  exactly  the  same,  for  it  is  the  wrath  of  the 
Son  of  God  in  his  human  nature  exalted,  as  well  as 
the  displeasure  of  God  the  Father:  It  is  the  righteous 
and  holy  resentment  of  the  man  Jesus,  awakened  and 
let  loose  against  rebellious  creatures  that  have  broken 
all  the  rules  of  his  Father's  government,  and  have  re- 
fused all  the  proposals  of  his  Father's  grace  :  It  is  the 
vv'rath  of  the  highest,  the  greatest,  and  the  best  of 
creatures,  joined  to  the  wrath  'fan  offended  Crea- 
tor*.      But  let  us  enter  a  little  into  particulars. 

*  Here  let  it  be  observed,  that  when  the  holy  Scripfiire  speaks  of  the 
i-rath  and  indignation  of  the  blessed  God,  we  are  not  to  understand  it  as 
thou;^h  God  were  subject  to  such  passions  or  affections  of  nature,  as  we 
feel  fermenting  or  working  within  ourselves  when  our  anger  rises:  But 
because  the  jus'ice  or  re.  toral  wisdom  of  G^d  inclines  him  to  !)ring. natu- 
ral evil,  pain  or  sorrow,  upon  those  who  are  obstinately  guilty  of  moral 
evi!  or  si  J,  and  to  treat  them  as  anger  or  v,'ra  .h  inclines  men  to  treat  those 


•DISCOURSE  V.  THE  WRATH  OF  THE   LAMB.  ^^2T 

1.  It  is  righteous  wrath,  and  just  and  deserved 
Vengeance,  that  *  arises  from  the  clearest  discoveries 
of  the  love  of  God  neglected,  and  the  sweetest  mes- 
sages of  divine  grace  refused.'  All  the  former  dis- 
coveries of  the  love  of  God  to  men,  both  in  nature 
and  providence,  as  well  as  by  divine  revelation, 
whether  made  by  men,  or  by  angels,  whether  in  the 
days  of  the  Patriarchs,  or  in  the  days  of  Moses  and 
the  Jews,  were  far  inferior  to  the  grace  which  was 
revealed  by  Jesus  Christ ;  and  therefore  the  sin  of 
rejecting  it  is  greater  in  proportion,  and  the  punish- 
ment will  be  more  severe.  "If  the  word  spoken  by 
angels  was  stedfast,  and  every  transgression  and  dis- 
obedience received  a  just  recompeuce  of  reward, — 
how  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation, 
as  THIS  which  began  to  be  spoken  by  our  Lord?'' 
Heb.  ii.  2,  3. 

Moses  had  many  true  discoveries  of  grace  made  to 
him,  and  entrusted  with  him,  for  sinful  men  :  But  the 
Scripture  saith,  Johni.  17.  *'The  law  came  by  Moses, 
and  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ,"  i.  e.  in 
such  superabundance,  as  though  grace  and  truth  had 
never  appeared  in  the  world  before.  The  forgiving 
mercy  of  God,  under  the  veil  of  ceremonies  and  sa- 
crifices, and  the  mediation  of  Christ,  under  the  type 

that  have  offended  Ihem  ;  therefore  the  Scrip'iure,  s])eakir.g  after  the  mdn- 
ner  of  men,  calls  it,  the  loraih  and  indipiation  of  G<kI. 

And  it  is  hard  to  say,  whether  or  no  the  vjratb  of  the  LuDib,  i.  e.  of  the 
man  Christ  yesus,\\\  whom  L)ie  Godhead  dwells,  be  any  thing  more,,  than  the 
calm,  dispassionate,  rectoral  wisdom  of  the  human  nature  of  Chnst,  in- 
clining him  to  punisii  rebellious  and  impenitent  sinners,  in  conformity  to 
the  will  of  God  his  Father,  or  in  concurrence  >vith  the  Godhead  v.  hlcU 
dwells  in  liim. 


228  THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB.  DISCOUIISE   V. 

of  the  high  priest,  was  bat  a  dark  and  .imperfect 
discovery,  in  comparison  of  the  free,  the  large,  the 
full  forgiveness,  which  is  brought  to  us  by  the  gospel 
of  Christ.  Learn  this  doctrine  at  large,  from  Heb. 
X.  1. — 14.  This  is  amazing  mercy,  astonishing 
grace,  and  the  despisers  of  it  will  deserve  to  perish 
with  double  destruction,  for  they  wink  their  eyes 
against  clearer  light,  and  reject  the  offers  of  more 
abounding  love. 

2.  It  is  wrath  that  is  *  awakened  by  the  most  pre- 
cious and  most  expensive  methods  of  salvation  slight- 
ed and  undervalued.'  Well  may  God  say  to  Chris- 
tian nations,  especially  to  Great- Britain,  who  sits 
under  the  daily  sound  of  this  gospel,  **\Vhat  could 
I  have  done  more  for  you  than  I  have  done?"  Isa.  v.  4. 
'I  have  sent  my  own  Son,  the  son  of  my  bosom,  the 
son  of  my  eternal  love,  to  take  flesh  and  blood  upon 
him,  that  he  might  be  able  to  die  in  your  stead,  who 
were  guilty  rebels,  and  deserved  to  die:  I  have  given 
him  up  to  the  insults  and  injuries  of  men,  to  the 
temptations,  the  buffetings,  and  rage  of  devils,  to  the 
stroke  of  the  sword  of  my  justice,  to  the  cursed  death 
of  the  cross  for  you  ;  here  is  heaven  and  salvation 
purchased  for  man,  with  the  dearest  and  most  valu- 
able life  in  ail  the  creatioii,  with  the  richest  blood 
that  ever  ran  in  the  veins  of  a  creature,  with  the  life 
and  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  yet  you  refused 
to  receive  and  accept  of  this  salvation,  procured  at  so 
immense  a  price.  I  called  you  to  partake  of  this 
invaluable  blessing  freely,  "\viihoutmone\  and  with- 
out price,"  and  yet  you   slighted  all  these  oiters  of 


DISCOURSE  V»  THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 

mercy ;  what  remains  but  that  my  wrath  shottld 
kindle  against  you  in  the  hottest  de,u:ree,  and  fill  your 
souls  with  exquisite  anguish  and  misery  ;  you  have 
refused  to  accept  of  a  covenant  which  was  sealed 
with  the  blood  of  my  own  Son,  which  was  confirmed 
by  miraculous  operations  of  my  own  Spirit ;  you 
have  valued  your  sinful  pleasures,  and  the  trifles  of 
this  vain  world,  above  the  blood  of  my  Son,  and  the 
life  of  your  souls  :  It  is  divinely  pro})er  that  divine 
vengeance  should  be  your  portion,  who  have  rejected 
such  rich  treasures  of  divine  love.'  Heb.  x.  28—31, 
*He  that  despised  Moses'  law,  died  without  mercy, 
under  two  or  three  witnesses;  of  how -much  sorer 
punishment  suppose  ye,  shall  he  be  thought  worthy, 
Avho  hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and 
hath  counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith 
he  was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  dr.ne 
despite  unto  the  spirit  of  grace  ?  For  we  know  hini 
that  hath  said  vengeance  belongeth  unto  me,  I  will 
yepay,  saith  the  Lord.' 

3.  It  is  wrath  that  *must  avenge  the  affronts  and 
injuries  done  to  the  prime  minister  of  God's  govern- 
ment, and  the  chief  messenger  of  his  mercy.'  All 
the  Patriarchs,  and  the  Prophets,  and  Angels  them- 
selves, were  but  'servants'  to  bring  messages  of  di- 
vine grace  to  men:  and  some  of  them  in  awful  forms 
and  appearances,  represented  the  auth(jrity  of  God 
too:  But  the  *Son  of  God'  ib  the  prime  nunister  of 
his  government,  and  the  noblest  ambassador  of  his 
grace,  and  the  chief  deputy  or  vicegerent  in  his  Fa- 
ther's kingdom.  See  Heb.  i.  1,  2.  Psal.  ii.  6,  9,  12, 

G  2 


230  THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB.  DISCOURSE  V. 

His  Father's  glory  and  grandeur,  compassion  and 
love,  are  most  sublimely  exhibited  in  the  face  of 
Christ  his  Son,  and  God  will  not  have  his  highest 
and  fairest  image  disgraced  and  affronted,  virithout 
peculiar  and  signal  vengeance. 

The  great  God  will  vindicate  the  honours  of  his 
Son  Jesus,  in  the  infinite  destruction  of  a  rebellious 
and  unbelieving  world:  And  the  Son  himself  hath 
wrath,  and  just  resentment;  he  will  vindicate  his  own 
authority,  and  his  commission  of  grace.  He  hath  a 
rod  of  iron  put  into  his  hands,  as  well  as  a  sceptre  of 
mercy,  and  with  rhis  rod  will  he  break  to  pieces  re- 
bellious nations.  Rev.  iii.  latter  end.  It  is  not  lit 
that  the  first  minister  of  the  empire  of  the  King  of 
heaven,  and  the  brightest  image  of  his  majesty  and 
of  his  love,  should  appear  always  in  tiie  character  of 
a  Lamb,  a  meek  and  unresenting  creature.  He  will 
put  on  the  Lion  when  his  commission  of  grace  is  end- 
ed: He  is  the  'Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,*  Rev.  v.  5. 
And  will  'rend  the  caul  of  the  heart'  of  those  unre- 
penting  sinners,  who  have  resisted  his  authority  and 
abused  his  love. 

And  how  will  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  of  God  pe- 
netrate the  soul  of  sinners  with  intense  anguish, 
when  the  meek  and  the  compassionate  Jesus,  shall 
be  commissioned  and  constrained  to  speak  the  lan- 
guage of  resentment  and  divine  indignation  ? 

'  Did  you  not  hear  of  me  sinners  in  yonder  world, 
which  lies  weltering  in  flames  ?  Did  you  not  read  of 
me  in  the  gospel  of  my  grace  ?  Did  you  not  learn  my 
character   and   my    salvation   in  the  ministrations  of 


DISCOURSE  V.       THE  WRATH  0F  THE  LAMB.  ii3 1 

my  word  ?  Were  you  not  told  that  I  was  appointed 
to  be  the  Saviour  of  a  lost  world,  and  a  minister  of 
divine  mercy  to  men  ?  And  was  there  not  abundant 
evidence  of  it  by  miracles  and  prophecies?  Were  you 
not  told  that  I  was  exalted  after  my  suQerings  to  the 
ri^^ht  hand  of  God,  on  purpose  to  **  bestow  repen- 
tance and  remission  of  sins?"  Acts  v.  31.  And 
were  you  not  inf  )rmed  also,  that  I  had  a  *  rod  of  iron' 
given  me  to  dash  rebels  to  death  ?  Psal.  ii.  Whit 
is  the  reason  you  never  came  to  me,  or  submitted  to 
my  government,  or  accepted  of  my  grace  ?  Did  you 
never  hear  of  the  threatenings  that  stood  like  drawn 
swords  agiinst  those  who  wilfully  refuse  this  mercy  ? 
Did  you  think  these  were  mere  bugbears,  mere 
sounding  words  to  fright  children  with,  and  harm- 
less thunder  that  would  never  blast  you  ?  Did  you 
think  these  fiashes  of  wrath  in  my  word,  were  such 
sort  of  lightenings  as  you  might  safely  play  widi,  and 
flame  that  would  never  burn  ?  What  punishments 
think  you,  do  you  deserve,  first  for  the  abuse  of  my 
authority,  and  then  {ox  the  wilful  and  obstinate  refusal 
of  my  grace?  Is  it  not  diviiiely  fit  and  proper,  my 
wrath  should  awake  agaiiist  such  heinous  criminals  \ 
Where  is  any  proper  object  for  my  resentment,  if 
you  are  not  made  objects  of  it  ?  Take  them,  angels, 
bind  them  hand  and  fo  )t,  and  cast  them  into  utter 
darkness :  Let  them  be  thrown  headlong  into  the 
prison  of  hell,  where  fire  and  brimstone  burn  un- 
quenchably,  where  light,  and  peace,  and  hope  can 
never  come.  Let  them  be  crushed  with  the  rod  of 
iron,  which  the  Father  hath   put    into  my  hands,  as 


53^  THIL  WIIATH  or  THE  LAMB.      DISCOURSE    \  . 

the  first  minister  of  his  kingdom,  as  the  avenger  oi 
his  despised  grace.' 

4,  It  is  a  wrath,  that  is  *  excited  by  a  final  and  ut- 
ter rejection  of  the  hist  proposals  of  divine  love.* 
When  mercy  was  offered  to  men  by  the  blessed  God 
at  first,  the  discoveries  were  more  dark  and  imptrfect, 
there  were  still  further  discoveries  to  be  made  in  fol- 
lowing aees  :  Therefore  the  crime  and  guilt  of  sin- 
ners in  those  former  days,  was  much  less  than  the 
crime  and  guilt  of  those  who  reject  this  last  proposal 
of  mercy.  There  is  no  further  edition  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  for  those  who  refuse  this  offer.  Those 
u  ho  neglect  Christ  as  he  is  set  forth  in  the  gospel,  to 
be  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  '*  there  remains  no  more  sacri- 
fice for  them,  but  a  certain  fearful  expectation  of 
vengeance  and  fiery  indignation,  \>  hich  shall  con- 
sume the  adversarv."      Heb.  x.  26,  28. 

All  the  former  dispensations  of  grace  are  contained 
eminently  and  compleated  in  this  tlispensation  of  the 
gospel.  God  can  bend  no  greater  messenger  than 
bis  own  Son,  and  he  concludes  and  finishes  the  whole 
scene  and  period  of  grace,  with  the  gospel  of 
Christ.  There  remains  nothing  but  wrath  to  the  ut- 
termost for  those  who  have  abused  this  last  offer  of 
mercy.  This  was  exernplified  in  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  Jews,  a  little  after  they  had  put 
Christ  to  death,  and  rejected  the  salvation  which  he 
proposed ;  and  this  wrath  will  be  more  terribly  glo- 
rified in  the  final  destruction  of  every  sinner  that  wiU 
fully  rejects  the  glad  tidmgs  of  this  salvation. 


IHSCOURSE  V.       THE  WRATH  OF  THE   LAMB. 

5.  It  is  such  wrath,  as  *  arises  from  the  patience  of 
a  God,  tired  and  worn  out  by  the  boldest  iniquities 
of  men,  and  by  a  final  perseverance  in  their  rel)el- 
lions.'  It  is  the  character  and  glory  of  God  to  be 
''  long-suffering,  anrl  slow  to  anger."  Kxod.  xxxiv. 
6.  *'  The  Lord  God  merciful  and  gracious,  long- suf- 
fering, and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth  ;"  and  Je- 
sus his  Son,  is  the  minister  of  this  his  patience,  and 
the  iritercessor  for  this  delay  of  judgment  and  venge- 
ance. He  is  represented  as  interceding  one  year 
after  another,  for  the  reprieve  of  obstinate  sinners, 
and  at  his  intercession,  God  the  Father  *  w^aits  to  be 
gracious:'  But  God  will  not  wait  and  delay,  and 
keep  silence  for  ever,  nor  will  Jesus  for  ever  plead. 
Psal.  1.  1,3,  21,  22.  *'  Consider  this  ye  that  forget 
God,  lest  he  tear  you  in  pieces,  and  there  be  none  to 
deliver."  God  will  say  then  to  obstinate  sinners,  as 
he  did  to  the  Jews  of  old,  Jer.  xv.  5,  6.  *' I  will 
stretch  out  my  hand  against  thee  and  destroy  thee,  I 
am  weary  of  repenting:"  and  even  the  abused  pati- 
ence of  Jesus  the  Saviour,  shall  turn  into  fury,  when 
the  *  day  of  recompence'  shall  come,  and  the  "  day  of 
vengeance  which  is  in  his  heart,"  Isa.  Ixiii.  I,  4. 

O  let  each  of  us  consider,  '  How  long  have  1  made 
the  grace  of  God  wait  on  me  ?  How  many  messages 
of  peace  and  pardon  have  I  neglected  .''  How  many 
years  have  I  delayed  to  accept  of  this  salvation,  and 
made  Jesus  wait  on  an  impenitent  rebel  with  the 
commission  of  mercy  in  his  hand,  while  I  have  re- 
fused to  receive  it  ?  Let  my  soul  be  this  day  awaken- 
ed to  lay  hold  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  to  submit  to 


^34  THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB.       DISCOURSE  V. 

the  gospel  of  Clirist,  lest  to-morrow  the  days  of  his 
comniission  of  mercy  toward  me  expire,  lest  the  pa- 
tience of  a  God  be  finished,  lest  the  abused  love  of  a 
Saviour  turn  into  fury,  and  nothing  remain  for  me, 
but  unavoidable  destruction.' 

6.  It  is  a  sentence  of  divine  wrath,  which  *  shall 
be  attended  with  the  fullest  cf)nviction  of  sinners,  and 
self-condemnation  in  their  own  consciences.'  This 
doubles  the  yensations  of  divine  wrath,  and  enhances 
the  anguish  of  the  criminal  to  a  hii^h  deeree. 

This  final  unbelief  and  rejection  of  grace,  is  a  sin 
against  so  much  light  and  so  much  love,  that  how- 
ever men  cheat  their  consciences  now,  and  charm 
them  into  silence,  yet  at  the  last  great  day  their  own 
consciences  shall  be  on  the  side  of  the  Judge,  when 
he  pronounces  wraih  and  damnation  upon  them. 
What  infinite  terrors  will  shake  the  soul,  when  there 
is  not  one  of  its  own  thoughts  can  speak  peace  with- 
in ?  When  all  its  own  inward  powers,  shall  echo  to 
the  sentence  of  the  Judge,  and  acknowledge  the  jus- 
tice and  equity  of  it  for  ever. 

Oh  who  can  express  the  agonies  of  pain  and  tor- 
ture, when  the  impenitent  sinner  shall  be  awakened 
into  such  reflections  as  these?  '  I  was  placed  in  a  land 
of  light  and  knowledge;  the  light  of  the  gospel  of 
grace  shone  all  round  me  ;  but  1  winked  my  eyes 
against  the  light,  and  now  I  am  plunged  into  utter 
and  eternal  darkness  ;  I  was  convinced  often  that  I 
was  a  sinner,  and  in  danger  of  death  and  hell,  I  was 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  and  the  all-suffi- 
ciency  of  the   salvation   of  Christ,   but  I  loved  the 


DISCOURSE  r.       THE  WRATH  OF  THE   LAMB.  23'5 

vanities  of  this  life,  I  followed  the  appetites  of  the 
flesh,  and  the  delusive  charms  of  a  tempting  world, 
I  delayed  to  answer  to  the  voice  of  Providence  and 
the  voice  of  mercy,  the  voice  of  the  gospel  inviting 
me  to  this  salvation,  and  the  voice  of  Christ  requir- 
ing me  to  be  saved.  My  own  heart  condemns  me 
with  ten  thousand  reproaches:  how  righteous  is  God 
in  his  indignation  !  How  just  is  the  resentment  of  the 
Lamb  of  God  in  this  day  of  his  wrath!  What  clear 
and  convincing  and  dreadful  equity  attends  the  sen- 
tence of  my  condemnation,  and  doubles  the  anguish 
of  m\  soul  ?' 

7.  It  is  such  wrath  as  *  shall  be  executed  immedi- 
ately and  eternally,  without  one  hour  of  reprieve,  and 
without  the  least  hope  of  mercy,  and  that  through  all 
the  ages  to  come  :'  For  though  Jesus  is  the  Media- 
tor between  God  and  man,  to  reconcile  those  to  God 
who  have  broken  his  law,  there  is  no  mediator  ap- 
pointed to  reconcile  those  sinners  to  Christ,  when  they 
have  finally  resisted  the  grace  of  his  gospel.  There 
is  no  blood  nor  death  that  can  atone,  for  the  final  re- 
jection of  the  blood  of  this  dying  Saviour.  If  we  re- 
sist Jesus  Christ  the  Lord,  and  his  atonement,  and 
his  sacrifice,  his  gospel,  and  his  salvation,  there  re- 
mains no  more  atonement  for  us.  Let  us  consider 
each  of  these  circumstances  apart,  and  dwell  a  little 
on  these  terrors,  that  our  hearts  may  be  affected  with 
them. 

(I.)  This  '  wrath  shall  be  executed  immediately,' 
for  the  time  of  reprieve  is  come  to  an  end.  Here 
divine  wisdom  and  justice  have  set  the  limits  of  di- 
vine patience,  and  they  reach  no  further. 


2,o5  THE   WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB.       DISCOURSE  ^c 

(2.)  It  is  '  wrath  that  shnll  be  executed  without 
mercy,'  because  the  day  and  hour  of  mercy  is  for 
ever  finished.  That  belongs  only  to  this  life.  The 
day  of  grace  is  gone  for  ever:  "  He  that  once  made 
thenj,  will  now  have  no  mercy  upon  them;  and  he 
thar  ioimed  them  will  shew  them  no  favour,"  Isa. 
xxvij.  11.  The  very  mercy  of  the  Mediator,  the 
compassion  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  is  turned  into  wrath 
and  fury.  The  Lamb  himself  has  put  on  the  form 
of  a  Lion,  and  there  is  no  Redeemer  or  Advocate  to 
speak  a  v,  ord  for  them  who  have  finally  rejected  Je- 
sus tiie  only  Mediator,  worn  out  the  age  of  his  pity, 
and  provoked  his  wrath  as  well  as  his  Father's. 

(3.)  It  is  '  wrath  without  end,^  for  their  souls  arc 
immortal,  their  bodies  are  raised  to  an  immortal  state^ 
and  their  whole  nature  being  sinful  and  miserable,  and 
immurtal,  they  must  endure  a  wretched  and  misera- 
ble {nmiortaiiiy.  This  is  the  representation  of  the 
book  of  God,  even  of  the  New  Testament,  and  I  have 
no  ( ommission  from  God,  either  to  soften  these 
\voicis~~of  terror,  or  to  shorten  the  term  of  their 
misery. 

REMARKS  ON  THIS  DISCOURSE. 

Remark  1.  '  What  a  wretched  mistake  is  it  to  im- 
agine the  great  God  is  nothing  else  but  Mercy,'  and 
Jesus  Clirist  '  is  nothing  else  but  Love  and  salvation.' 
It  is  true,  God  has  more  mercy  than  we  can  imagine, 
his  love  is  b'-«indiess  ni  many  of  its  exercises,  and 
Jesus  his  Son,  who  is  the  image  of  the  Father,  is  the 


DISCOURSE  V.       THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB.  237 

fairest  image  of  his  love  and  p^race.  His  compas- 
sions have  *'  heights  and  depths,  and  lengths  and 
breadths  in  them,  that  pass  all  our  knowledge,"  hjjh. 
iii.  18.  Bui  God  is  an  universal  Sovereign,  a  mtisc 
and  righteous  Governor:  There  is  nuijesty  with  him 
as  well  as  grace ;  and  '  Jesus  is  Lord  of  lords  and 
King  of  kings;'  he  bears  the  image  of  his  Father's 
justice,  as  well  as  of  his  Fadier's  love;  otherwise,  he 
could  not  be  the  full  ''  brightness  of  his  glory,  nor  the 
express  image  of  his  person," 

And  besides,  the  Father  hath  armed  him  with 
powers  of  divine  vengeance,  as  well  as  with  powers 
of  mercy  and  salvation,  Psal.  ii,  9.  He  has  put  *  the 
rod  of  iron'  into  his  hand,  "  to  dash  the  nations  like 
a  potters  vessel."  Rev.  ii.  27.  and  xix.  13.  He  is 
the  *'  elect  and  precious  corner  stone  laid  in  Zion/' 
1  Pet.  ii.  6,  But  he  is  a  stone  that  *'  will  bruise 
those  u  ho  stumble  at  him,"  and  *'  those  on  whom  he 
shall  fall,  he  will  grind  them  to  powder,"  Matth.  xxi. 
42.  He  is  a  Lamb  and  a  Lion  too :  He  can  suffer  at 
Jerusalem  and  mount  Calvary,  with  silence,  '  and  not 
open  his  mouth  ;'  and  he  can  roar  from  heaven  with 
overspreading  terror,  and  shake  the  world  with  the 
sound  of  his  anger.  See  that  his  mercy  be  not 
abused. 

Remark  2,  '  The  day  of  Christ's  patience  makes 
haste  to  an  end.'  Every  day  of  neglected  grace  has- 
tens on  the  hour  of  his  wrath  and  vengeance.  Sinners 
waste  their  months  and  years  in  rebellion  against  his 
love,  while  he  waits  months  and  years  to  be  graci- 
ous :   but  Christ  is  all-wise,  and  he  knows  the  proper 

H  2- 


'2S3  THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB.       DISCOURSE  V. 

period  of  long-suffering,  and  the  proper  moment  to 
let  all  his  wrath  and  resentment  loose,  on  obstinate 
and  unreclaimable  sinners.  Oh  may  every  one  of 
our  souls  awake  to  faith  and  repentance,  to  religion 
and  righteousness,  to  hope  and  salvation,  before  this 
day  of  our  peace  be  finished  and  gone  for  ever.  Psal. 
ii.  12.  "Kiss  the  Son  lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye  per- 
ish from  the  way,  when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a 
little."  There  was  once  a  season  when  he  saw  the 
nation  of  the  Jews,  and  the  people  of  Jerusalem, 
wasting  the  proposals  of  his  love  ;  they  let  their  day 
of  mercy  pass  away  unimproved,  and  he  foretold  their 
destruction  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  Luke  xix.  41, 
42.  '*  He  beheld  the  city  and  wept  over  it,"  alas,  for 
the  inhabitants  who  would  not  be  saved.  He  was 
then  a  messenger  of  salvation,  and  clothed- with  pity 
to  sinners,  but  in  the  last  great  day  of  his  wrath, 
there  is  no  place  for  these  tears  of  compassion,  n© 
room  for  pity  or  forgiveness. 

Remark  3.  *  When  we  preach  terror  to  obstinate 
sinners,  we  may  preach  Jesus  Christ  as  well  as  when 
we  preach  love  and  salvation,  for  he  is  the  minister 
of  his  Father's  government  both  in  vengeance  and  in 
mercy  :'  The  Lamb  hath  wrath  as  well  as  grace,  and 
he  is  to  be  feared  as  well  as  to  be  trusted ;  and  he 
must  be  represented  under  all  the  characters  of  dig- 
nity to  which  he  is  exalted,  that  '  knowing  the  ter- 
rors of  the  Lord,'  as  well  as  the  compassion  of  the 
Saviour,  '  we  may  persuade  sinful  men  to  accept  of 
salvation  and  happiness.' 


DISCOURSE  VI. 


THE 


VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS  : 


OR, 


A  3IEDITATI0N  ON  THE  ROCKS  NEAR  TUNBRIDGE-WELLS,  1729. 


Rev.  vr.  15,  16,  17. 

And  the  kings  of  the  earth ,  and  the  great  men^  and  the 
rich  men^  EsV.  hid  themsehes  in  the  dens,  and  in  the 
rocks  of  the  mountains  ;  and  said  to  the  rocks  and 
mountains,  fall  on  us,  and  hide  us  from  the  face  of 
him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne^  and  from  the  ivrath 
of  the  Lamb, 

IN  the  former  discourse  on  this  text,  we  have 
taken  a  survey  of  these  two  persons  and  their  cha- 
racters, God  and  the  Lamb,  whose  united  wrath 
spreads  so  terrible  a  scene  through  the  world  at  the 
great  judgment-day;  we  have  also  inquired,  and 
found  sufiicient  reasons,  why  the  anger  and  justice  of 
God  should  be  so  severe  against  the  sinful  sons  and 
daughters  of  men,  who  have  wilfully  broken  his  law, 
and  refused  the  grace  of  his  gospel ;  and  why  the  in- 
dignation of  the  Son  of  God  should  be  super-added 
to  all  the  terrors  of  his  Father's  vengeance. 


240  THE  VAIx\   REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.      DISCOURSE  VI, 

We  are  now  come  to  the  third  and  last  general 
head  of  discourse,  and  that  is  to  consider,  *  how 
vain  will  all  the  refuges  and  hopes  of  siin\ers  be 
found  in  that  dreadful  day,  when  God  and  the  Lamb 
shall  join  to  manifest  their  wrath  and  indignation 
against  them.' 

These  hopes,  and  shifts,  and  refuges  of  rebellious 
and  guilty  creatures,  are  Vepresented  by  a  noble 
iniage  and  description  in  my  text:  *'  They  shall  call 
to  the  rocks  and  the  mountains  to  fall  upon  them, 
and  to  cover  them  from  the  face  of  him  that  sits  up- 
on the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb." 
As  this  address  to  mountains  and  to  rocks  appears 
to  be  but  a  vain  hope  in  extreme  distress,  when  a 
feeble  and  helpless  criminal  is  pursued  by  a  swift  and 
mighty  avenger,  so  vain  and  fruitless  shall  all  the 
hopes  of  sinners  be,  to  escape  the  just  indignation 
and  sentence  of  their  Judge.  In  order  to  shew  the 
vanity  of  all  the  refuf^es  and  shifts  to  which  sinners 
shall  betake  themselves  in  that  day,  let  us  spread 
abroad  this  sacred  description  of  them  in  a  para- 
phrase under  the  following  heads. 

1.  Let  us  consider  the  '  rocks  and  mountains,  as 
vast  and  mighty  created  beings,  of  huge  figure,  and 
high  appearance,  whose  aid  is  sought  in  the  last  ex- 
themity  of  distress;'  and  what  is  this  but  calling 
upon  creatures  to  help  them  against  their  Creator  ? 
V  hat  is  it  but  flying  to  creatures  to  deliver  and  save 
them,  when  their  offended  God  resolves  to  punish? 
A  vain  refu.e  indeed,  when  God,  the  Almighty  Ma- 
ker of  all  things,  and  Jesus  his  Son,   by   whom  all 


DISCOURSE  VI.      THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  241 

thiiii^s  were  made,  sliall  agree  to  arise  and  go  forth 
against  them,  in  their  robes  of  judgment,  and  with 
their  artillery  of  vengeance  !  What  created  being 
dares  interpose  in  that  hour  to  shelter  or  defend  a 
condemned  criminal  ^  What  high  and  mighty  crea- 
ture is  able  to  afford  the  least  security  or  protection? 
The  princes  of  the  earth,  and  the  captains,  the 
kings,  and  heroes,  and  conquerors,  with  all  their  mil- 
lions of  armed  nien,  are  not  able  to  lift  a  hand,  for 
the  defence  of  one  sinner  against  the  anger  of  God 
and  the  Lamb.  They  themselves  shall  quake  and 
shiver  a*  the  tremendous  sight,  and  they  shall  fly  in- 
to ihe  holes  of  the  rocks  like  mere  cowards,  and  shall 
join  their  enterics  with  the  poor  and  the  slave,  en- 
treuiiig  the  rocks  and  mountains  to  befriend  them 
with  shelter  and  safety. 

Not  the  highest  mountains,  not  the  hardest  or  the 
strongest  rocks,  not  the  most  exalted  or  most  power- 
ful [lersons,  or  things  in  nature  can  defend,  when  the 
God  of  nature  resolves  to  destroy:  When  he  vvho  is 
higher  than  the  highest,  and  stronger  than  the  strong- 
est, shall  pronounce  destruction  upon  rebels,  what 
creature  can  speak  deliverance  ? 

The  rocks  and  the  mountains  obey  their  Maker, 
they  shiver  in  pieces  at  the  word  of  his  wrath,  and 
will  yield  no  relief  to  criminals:  But  man,  rebellious 
man,  disobeys  his  Maker,  and  calls  to  the  rocks  and 
mountains  to  protect  him.  Vain  hope.  Oh  sinner,  to 
make  the  most  exalted  creatures  vour  friends,  when 
God  the  Creator  is  your  enemy.  These  inanimate 
things  have  never  learnt  disobedience  to  their  Maker, 


242  THE  VAliN   REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.      DISCOURSE   V4. 

and  rather  than  screen  a  rebel  from  his  deserved  judg- 
ments, they  will  offer  themselves  as  instruments  of 
divine  vengeance. 

2.  Rocks  and  mountains  in  their  cllfts^  and  dcnsy  and 
ca'ucrnSj  are  sometimes  considered  as  '  places  of  se- 
cresy  and  concealment.'  My  text  tells  us,  that 
*  kings  and  mighty  men,  the  rich  and  the  free  man, 
as  well  as  the  poor  and  the  slave,  hid  themselves  in 
dens,  and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains.'  They 
hoped  there  might  be  some  secret  corner,  whose 
thick  shadows  and  darkness  were  sufficient  to  hide 
them,  where  the  Judge  might  not  spy  or  find  them 
out.  Vain  hope  for  sinners  to  hide  in  the  holes  of 
the  rocks,  and  the  deepest  caverns  of  the  mountains, 
to  escape  the  notice  of  that  God,  who  is  all  eye  and 
all  ear,  and  present  at  once  in  every  place  of  earth  and 
heaven!  Foolish  expectation  indeed,  to  avoid  the 
riotice  of  the  Son  of  God,  "  whose  eyes  are  as  aflame 
of  hre,"  and  shoot  through  the  earth  and  its  darkest 
caves. 

Read  the  139th  Psalm,  Oh  sinner,  and  then  think 
if  it  be  possible  to  flee  from  the  eye  of  God,  aiul  to 
iiide  thyself  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  where  his  hand 
shall  not  find  tliee. — He  has  already  <  beset  thee  be- 
hind and  before,'  and  his  hand  already  compasses  thee 
round  about  in  all  thy  paths.  Darkness  itself  cannot 
cover  thee  ;  '  the  night  shines  as  the  day'  before  him, 
and  scatters  li2:ht  round  about  the  criminal  that  wMild 
Iiide  himself  from  the  wrath  of  God.  Ask  Jeremy 
the  prophet,  and  he  shall  tell  thee,  that  *'  none  can 
hide  hhnself  in  secret  places  where  God  shall  not  see 


IJISCOUllSE  VI.  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF   SINNER3.  24^ 

him,  the  God  who  fills  heaven  and  earth."  Jer.  xxiii. 
4.  He  shall  hunt  obstinate  sinners  from  every  moun- 
tain, 'and  out  of  the  holes  of  the  rocks ;  for  his  eyes 
are  upon  all  their  ways,  neither  their  persons,  nor 
their  iniquities,  can  be  hid  from  him. 

And,  as  you  can  never  conceal  yourselves  from  the 
sight  and  notice  of  the  Judge,  so  neither  can  you 
turn  your  eyes  away  from  him  :  You  must  behold 
his  face  in  vengeance,  and  endure  the  distressing 
sight.  The  rays  of  his  Majesty;  in  the  day  of  his 
wrath,  shall  strike  through  all  the  crannies  of  the 
darkest  den,  and  pierce  the  deepest  shade.  ^'Lord, 
when  thy  hand  is  lifted  up  they  will  not  see ;  but 
they  shall  see  and  be  ashamed."  Isa.  xxvi.  IQ. 
And  the  face  of  the  Lamb  must  be  seen  in  all  its 
unknown  terrors.  Rev.  i.  7.  ''Behold,  he  comes  in 
the  clouds,  and  every  eye  shall  see  him:"  The  guilty 
creature,  and  the  divine  Avenger,  shall  meet  eye  to 
eye,  though  the  creature  has  liid  himself  under 
rocks  and  mountains. 

3.  These  *  rocks  and  mountains'  are  designed  to 
represent,  not  only  concealment  and  darkness  by 
their  holes  and  caverns,  but  tlu^y  are  known  *  bul- 
warks of  defence,'  and  'places  of  security  and  shelter, 
by  reason  of  their  strength  and  thickness.'  When 
tlie  prophet  would  express  the  safety  of  the  man  who 
practises  righteousness  in  a  vicious  age,  Isa.  xrxiii. 
16.  he  says,  *'He  shall  dwell  on  high,  his  place  of 
defence"  shall  be  a  munition  of  rocks."  These  shall 
be  a  bulwark  round  him  for  his  guard  and  safety. 
When   sinners  therefore  Ree  to  the  mountains,   and 


244      THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.     DISCOURSE  VI, 

to  the  rocks,  they  may  be  supposed  to  seek  a  thick 
covering,  or  a  bhieid  of  defence  to  secure  them, 
where  the  strokes  of  divine  auger  shall  not  break 
through  and  reach  them  :  They  trust  to  the  solid 
protection  of  the  rocks,  and  the  strength  of  the  moun- 
tains to  guard  them  ;  but  these,  alas  !  can  yield  no 
shelter  from  the  stroke  of  the  arm  of  God.  Shovad 
the  rocks,  Oh  sinners,  attempt  to  befriend  thee,  and 
surround  thee  with  their  thickest  fortification,  his 
wrath  would  cleave  them  asunder  and  pierce  diee  to 
the  soul,  with  greater  ease  than  thou  Ccuisi  break 
through  a  paper  wall  with  the  battering  engines  of 
war.  Ask  the  prophet  Nahum,  who  was  acquainted 
with  the  majesty  of  God,  and  he  shall  tell  thee,  how 
it  *' throws  down  the  mountain,  and  tears  the  rock 
in  pieces  :  When  his  fury  is  poured  out  like  fire,  the 
mountains  quake  at  him,  the  hills  melt,  the  earth  is 
burnt  at  his  presence,  with  all  that"  dwell  therein. 
He  that  *Mias  his  way  in  the  whirlwind  and  in  the 
storm,  and  the  clouds  are  the  dust  of  his  feet,"  what 
mountain  *'can  stand  before  his  indignation  ?"  And 
where  is  the  rock  *' that  can  abide  in  the  fierceness 
of  his  anger?"  Nah.  i.  2 — 6.  Were  the  whole  globe 
of  the  earth  one  massy  rock,  and  should  it  yawn  to 
the  very  centre  to  give  thee  a  refuge  and  hiding- 
place,  and  then  close  again  and  surround  thee  with 
its  solid  defence,  yet,  when  the  Lord  commands,  the 
earth  will  obey  the  voice  of  him  that  made  it ;  this 
solid  earth  would  cleave  again  and  resign  the  guilty- 
prisoner,  and  yield  thee  up  to  the  sword  of  his  justice. 
Wheresoever  a  God  resolves  to  strike,   safety  and 


DISCOURSE  VI.  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  245 

defence  are  impossible  thing^s.  The  sinner  musE 
suffer  without  remedy,  and  without  hope,  who  has 
provoked  an  Almighty  God,  and  awakened  the  wrath 
of  that  Saviour  **who  can  subdue  all  things  to  him.- 
self." 

4.  *  Rocks  and  mountains'  falling  upon  us  are  'in- 
struments of  sudden  and  overwhelming  death.'— 
When  sinners  therefore  call  to  the  *  rocks  and  moun- 
tains to  fidl  upon  them  and  cover  them,'  they  are 
supposed  to  endeavour  to  put  an  end  to  their  own 
beings  by  some  overwhelming  destruction,  that  they 
may  not  live  to  feel  and  endure  the  resentments  of 
an  affronted  God,  and  an  abused  Saviour.  Though 
they  are  just  raised  to  life,  they  would  fain  die  again  ; 
but  God,  who  calls  the  dead  from  their  graves,  v/ili 
forbid  the  rocks  and  the  mountains,  and  every  crea- 
ture, to  lend  sinners  their  aid  to  destroy  themselves* 
Sinners,  in  that  dreadful  day,  shall  'seek  death,  but 
death  shall  flee  from  them.'  Their  natures  are  now 
made  immortal,  and  the  fall  of  rocks  and  mountains 
cannot  crush  them  to  death.  They  must  live  to 
sustain  the  weight  of  divine  wrath,  which  is  heavier 
than  rocks  and  mountains. 

The  life  which  God  hath  now  given  to  men  in  this 
mortal  state,  may  be  given  up  again,  or  thrown  away 
by  the  daring  impiety  of  self-murder ;  and  they  may 
make  many  creatures  instruments  of  their  own  de- 
struction ;  but  the  life  which  the  Son  of  God  shall 
give  them,  when  he  calls  them  from  the  dead,  is  ever- 
lasting ;  they  cannot  resign  their  existence  and  im- 
mortality, they  cannot  part  with  it,  nor  can  any  rren- 

I  2 


S46'  THE   VAIN^   RLFUGL  or  SINNERS.  DISCOURSE  Vl. 

ture  take  it  from  them.  They  would  rather  die  than 
see  God  in  his  majesty,  or  the  Lamb  arrayed  in  his 
robes  of  judi^ment;  but  the  wretches  are  immortaliz- 
ed to  punishment,  by  the  long  abused  majesty  and 
power  of  God  :  And  they  must  live  for  ever  to  learn 
what  it  is  to  despise  the  authority  of  a  God,  and  to 
abuse  the  grace  of  a  Saviour.  Their  doom  is  "ever- 
lasting burnings  :  They  have  no  rest  day  nor  night, 
the  smoke  of  their  torment  will  ascend  for  ever  and 
ever,  in  the  presence  of  the  holy  angels,  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  Lamb."   Rev.  xiv.  10,  11. 

Thus  have  w^e  considered  those  huge  and  bulky 
beings,  the  rocks  and  the  mountains,  in  all  their  vast 
and  mighty  figures  and  appearances,  with  all  their 
clefts,  and  dens,  and  caverns,  for  shelter  and  conceal- 
ment, with  all  their  fortification  and  massy  thickness 
for  defence,  and  with  all  their  power  to  crush  and  de- 
stroy mankind,  and  yet  we  fmd  them  utterly  insufH- 
cient  to  hide,  cover,  or  protect  guilty  creatures,  in 
that  great  d^y  of  the  wrath  of  God  and  the  Lamb. 


RErLECTIONS  ON   THE   FOREGOING    DISCOURSE. 

1.  '  How  strangely  do  all  the  appearances  of  Christ 
to  sinners,  in  the  several  seasons  and  dispensations  oi 
his  grace,  difter  from  that  last  great  and  solemn  ap- 
pearance, which  to  them  will  be  a  dispensation  oi 
final  vengeance.  He  visited  the  world  in  divine  vi- 
sions of  old,  even  from  the  day  of  the  sin  of  Adam- 
and  it  Was  to  reveal  mercy  to  sinful  man  ;  and  he 
isometimes  assumed  the  majesty  of  God,   to  let  the 


iJISCOURSE   VI.  THE   \'A1N   REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  21-7 

world  know  he  was  not  to  be  trifled  with.     He  visited 
the  earth  at  his  incarnation:  How  lowly  was  his  state  I 
How  full  of  grace  his  ministr}^!  yet  he  then  i^ave  no- 
tice of  this  day  of  vengeance,  when  he  should  appear 
in  his  own  and  his  Father's  most  awful  glories. 

He  visits  the  nations  now  with  the  word  of  salva- 
tion, he  appears  in  the  glass  of  his  gospel,  and  in  the 
ordinances  of  his  sanctuary,  as  a  Saviour  whose  heart 
melts  with  love,  and  in  the  language  of  his  tenderest 
compassions,  and  of  his  dying  groans,  he  invites  sin- 
ners  to  be  reconciled  to  an  offended  God:  He  appears 
as  a  Lamb  made  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  and  as  a  Minister 
of  his  Father's  mercy,  offering  and  distributing  par- 
dons to  criminals.  But,  when  he  visits  the  world  as 
a  final  judge,  how  solemn  and  illustrious  uill  that  ap- 
pearance be  ?  How  terrible  his  countenance  to  all 
tliose  who  have  refused  to  receive  him  as  a  Saviour  ? 
**Behold  he  cometh  in  flaming  fire,  with  ten  thousand 
of  his  angels,  to  render  vengeance  to  them  that"  re- 
sisted his  grace,  and  disobeyed  the  invitation  of  his 
gospel,  2  Thes.  i.  7. 

Time  was,  when  the  <' Father  sent  forth  his  Son, 
not  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  through  him  the 
world  might  have  life,"  John  iii  .17.  But  the  time  is 
coming,  when  God  shall  send  him  arrayed  with  Ma- 
jesty, and  with  righteous  indignation,  to  condemn  the 
rebellious  world,  and  inflict  upon  them  the  pains  of 
eternal  death.  Hast  thou  seen  him.  Oh  my  soul,  in 
the  discoveries  of  his  mercy,  fly  to  him  with  all  the 
wings  of  fiiith  and  love,  with  all  the  speed  of  desire 
and  joy  fly  to  him,  receive  his  grace,   and  accept  of 


2-i8  THE   VAIN   RErUGE  OF   SINNERS.  DISCOURSE  VI. 

his  salvation,  that  when  the  day  of  the  wrath  of  the 
Lamb  shall  appear,  thou  mayest  behold  his  counte- 
nance without  terror  and  confusion. 

Refi,  2.  '  How  very  different  will  the  thoughts  of 
sinners  be  in  that  day,  from  what  they  are  at  present  ? 
How  different  their  wishes  and  their  inclinations?' 
And  that  with  regard  to  this  one  terror,  which  my 
text  describes,  viz.  that  they  shall  address  themselves 
to  the  rocks  and  mountains  for  shelter,  and  fly  into 
the  dens  and  caverns  of  the  earth  for  concealment 
and  safety.    Let  us  survey  this  in  a  few  particulars. 

Sinners,  vvhose  'looks  vVere  once  lofty  and  disdain- 
ful,' whose  eyes  v;ere  exalted  in  pride,  their  mouth 
set  against  the  heavens,  and  their  hearts  haughty  and 
full  of  scorn,  they  shall  be  humbled  to  the  dust  of 
the  earth,  they  shall  creep  into  the  hiding-places  of 
the  moles  and  the  bats,  and  thrust  their  heads  into 
holes  and  caverns,  and  dens  of  desolation,  at  the  ap- 
pearance of  God  their  Creator  in  flaming  fire,  and 
the  Son  of  God  their  Judge  ;  for  he  is  the  avenger 
of  his  own  nnd  his  Father's  injured  honours. 

Sinners  who  were  'once  fond  of  their  idols  and 
their  sensual  delights,'  who  made  idols  to  themselves 
of  every  agreeable  creature,  and  gave  it  that  place  in 
their  hearts  which  belongs  only  to  God,  they  shall 
be  horribly  confounded  in  that  day,  when  God  shall 
appear  in  hisMiijesty,  to  shake  the  earth  to  the  centre, 
and  to  burn  the  surface  of  it  with  all  its  bravery. 
This  is  nobly  described  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  chap, 
the  2d  from  10 — 2\,  "In  that  day  shall  a  man  cast 
\\\^  idols  of  silver,  and  his  idols  of  gold,  which  they 


WISCOUR^E   VI.       THE  VAiiV  REI'UGi:  OF   SIGNERS.  i24'j 


made,  each  one  for  himself  to  worship,  to  tlie  mole 
and  to  the  bats,  to  .^o  into  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  and 
into  the  to[)s  of  the  ra,y^ged  rocks,  for  fear  of  the  Lord, 
and  for  the  glory  of  his  Majesty,  when  he  ariseth  to 
shake  terribly  the  earth." 

Sinners  who  once  *  could  not  tcll  Iiow  to  spend  a 
day  without  gay  company,'  those  sons  and  daughters 
of  mirth,  who  turned  their  midnights  into  noon,  with 
the  splendor  of  their  lamps,  and  the  rich  and  shining 
furniture  of  their  palaces,  those  noisy  companions  of 
riot,  who  made  the  streets  of  the  city  resound  with 
their  midnight  revels,  they  shall  now  fly  to  the  soli- 
tary caveins  of  the  rocks,  and  would  be  glad  to  dwell 
there  m  darkness  and  silence  for  ever,  if  they  might 
but  avoid  the  wrath  of  a  provoked  God,  and  the 
countenance  of  an  abused  Saviour.  Tiiey  would 
fain  be  shut  up  for  ever  from  day-light,  lest  they 
should  see  the  face  of  an  Almighty  enemy,  whose 
name  and  honour  have  been  reproached,  in  their 
songs  of  lewd  jollity  and  prophaneness. 

Sinners  who  once  '  were  fond  of  liberty  in  the  wild- 
est sense,'  and  could  not  bear  that  any  restraints 
should  be  laid  upon  their  persons  or  their  wishes,  who 
never  could  endure  the  thought  of  a  confiiienient  tr» 
their  closets,  for  one  half  hour  to  converse  with  God, 
or  v/ith  their  own  souls  there,  they  now  call  aloud  to 
the  rocks  and  the  mountains  to  immure  them  round, 
as  a  refuge  from  the  eye  of  then'  Judge.  They  were 
once  perpetually  roving  abroad,  and  gadding  through 
all  the  gay  scenes  of  sensuality,  in  quest  of  new  and 
flowery  pleasures,  but  now  they  beg  to  be  imprison- 


i?50  THE   VAIN  RKfUGE  Of   slNN£RS.       WISCOURSfi  VI. 

cd  for  ever  in  the  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth;  tlie 
deepest  and  most  dismal  caves  arc  tlieir  most  ardent 
wishes,  that  they  might  never  see  the  countenance 
of  their  divine  Avenger,  nor  feel  the  weight  of  his 
hand. 

Sinners  who  'heretofore  thought  themselves  and 
their  deeds  of  darkness  secure  enough  from  the  eye 
of  God,  and  from  the  strokes  of  his  justice,'  while  they 
revelled  in  their  common  habitations,  those,  who 
even  under  the  open  sky  could  defy  the  Almighty, 
could  laugh  at  his  threatnings,  and  mock  the  prophe- 
cies of  his  vengeance,  nou'  they  can  find  no  caverns, 
deep  or  dark  enough,  to  hide  them  from  his  sight; 
his  lightenings  penetrate  the  hardest  rocks,  and  shine 
into  the  deepest  solitudes:  There  is  no  screen  or 
slrelter  thick  and  strong  enough  to  stand  between 
God  and  them,  and  to  cover  and  shield  them  from 
liis  thunder.  They  call  now  to  the  mountains  and 
the  rocks  to  be  an  eternal  screen  ;  but  the  rocks  and 
the  mountains  are  deaf  to  their  cry  :  Then  shall  they 
remember,  with  unknown  regret  and  anguish,  those 
days  of  grace,  when  Christ  Jesus,  who  is  now  their 
Judge,  offered  himself  to  become  a  screen  to  them, 
and  a  defence  from  the  anger  of  God  their  Creator; 
But  they  rejected  this  offered  grace.  Me  would  have 
been  the  rock  of  their  safety,  where  they  should  have 
found  refuge  from  the  fiery  threatnings  of  the  broken 
law,  and  the  majesty  of  an  offended  God:  The  Fa- 
ther himself  had  appointed  him  for  this  kind  ofiicfe  to 
repenting  sinners;  and  perhaps  he  gave  Mosesa  type  or 
emblem  of  it,  when  hecommunded  himtohidehimself 


WISCOURSE  VI.       THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNEUS.  '2!ri 

in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  to  secure  him  from  destruc- 
tion, while  the  burning  blaze  of  his  glory  passed  by, 
Exod.  xxxiii.  22.  And  L^aiah  the  prophet  had  fore- 
told, that  this  Jesus  should  be  as  '^  the  shadow  of  a 
great  rock,"  to  shelter  them  from  the  beams  of  the 
wrath  of  God ;  but  they  refused  this  blessing,  they 
renounced  this  refuge;  and  now  they  find  there  is  no 
other  rock  sufficient  to  become^a  shelter  from  the 
stroke  of  his  Almighty  arm,  or  a  sufficient  shadow 
from  the  burning  vengeance. 

Sinners,  who  '  once  over-rated  their  flesh  and 
blood;  and  loved  it  with  infinite  fondness,'  who  treat- 
ed their  fleshly  appetites  with  excessive  nicety  and 
elegance,  and  affected  a  humourous  delicacy  in  every 
thing  round  about  them,  would  now  gladly  creep  into 
the  mouldy  caverns  of  the  rocks,  they  would  be  glad 
to  hide  and  defile  themselves  in  the  diirk  and  noisome 
grottos  of  the  earth,  and  squeeze  their  bodies  into 
the  rough  and  narrov/  clefts,  to  shield  themselves 
from  the  indignation  of  him  that  sits  upon  the  throne, 
and  of  the  Lamb. 

Those  who  '  once  were  so  tender  of  this  mortal 
life  and  limbs,'  and  cdtld  not  think  of  bearing  the 
least  hardship  for  the  sake  of  virtue  and  piety,  are 
now  wishhig  to  have  those  delicate  limbs  of  theirs 
crushed  by  the  fall  of  rocks  and  mountains :  They 
\vish  earnestly  to  have  their  lives  and  their  souls  de- 
stroyed for  ever,  and  their  whole  natures  buried  In 
desolation  and  death,  if  they  might  but  avoid  the 
eternal  agonies  and  torments  that  are  prepared  for 
them.     Nov/  they  long  for  caverns,  and  graves,   to 


252  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.       DISCOURSE  VI, 

hide  them  for  ever  from  the  justice  of  God,  whose 
authority  they  have  despised,  and  from  the  wrath  of 
a  Saviour  whose  mercy  they  have  impiously  renounc- 
ed. 

Look  forward.  Oh  my  soul,  to  this  awful  and 
dreadful  hour;  survey  this  tremendous  scene  of  con- 
fusion, when  sinners  shall  run  counter  to  all  their  for- 
mer principles  and  wishes,  and  pass  a  quite  different 
judgment  upon  their  sinful  delights,  from  what  they 
■were  wont  to  do  in  the  days  of  this  life  of  vanity. 
Learn,  Oh  my  soul,  to  judtre  of  things  more  agreea- 
bly to  the  appearances  of  that  day:  Never  canst  thou 
set  the  flattering  pleasures  of  sense,  and  the  joys  of 
bin,  in  a  truer  and  juster  view,  than  in  the  light  of  this 
glorious  and  tremendous  judgment. 

Rcjh  3.  '  How  great  and  dreadful  must  the  dis- 
tress of  creatures  be,  when  they  cannot  bear  to  see 
the  face  of  God  their  Creator  :'  How  terrible  must  be 
the  circumstances  of  the  sons  of  men,  when  they  can- 
not endure  to  see  the  face  of  the  Son  of  God,  but 
would  fain  hide  themselves  from  the  sight  under  rocks 
and  mountains?  How  wretched  must  their  state  be, 
who  avoid  the  face  of  the  Massed  God  with  horror, 
which  the  holy  angels  ever  oehold  with  most  intense 
delight,  and  which  the  saints  rejoice  in  as  their  high- 
est happiness?  It  is  their  heaven  to  see  God,  and  be- 
hold the  glory  of  his  Son  Jesus,  Matth.  v.  8.  John 
:^vii.  But  this  is  the  very  hell  of  sinners  in  that 
dismal  hour,  and  will  fill  their  souls  with  such  inex- 
pressible anguish,  that  they  call  to  the  rocks  and 
mountains  to  hide  them  from  the  sight.     Dreadful 


DISCOURSE  VI.      THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  853 

«nd  de])lorable  is  their  case  indeed,  who  cannot  en- 
dure to  see  the  countenance  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  God, 
Jesus  the  Saviour  of  n\en,  the  copy  of  the  Fa'tlicr's 
glory,  and  the  image  of  his  beauty  and  love.  They 
cannot  bear  to  see  that  Jesus  who  is  the  chiefest  often 
thousands,  and  altoj^ether  lovely;  they  fly  from  that 
blessed  countenance,  which  is  the  ornament,  and  the 
joy  of  all  the  holy  and  happy  creation  ;  That  blessed 
countenance  is  become  the  terror  and  confusion  of 
impenitent  and  i^uilty  rebels. 

And  what  shall  I  do,  if  I  should  be  found  amongst 
tins  crijninal  number,  in  that  great  day  ?  If  I  look  at 
the  wisdom  and  the  righteousness  of  God,  these  will 
reflect  the  keenest  rays  of  horror  and  anguish  upon 
my  soul,  for  it  is  that  wisdom,  and  that  righteous- 
ness, that  have  joined  to  prepare  the  salvation  which 
I  have  rejected,  and  therefore  now  that  wise  and  righ- 
teous God  seeth  it  proper  and  necessary  to  punish 
me  with  everlasting  sorrows.  If  I  look  at  the  power 
of  God,  It  is  a  dreadful  sight:  Eternal  and  Almigh- 
ty power,  that  can  break  through  rocks  and  moun- 
tains, to  inflict  vengeance  upon  the  guilty,  and  stands 
engaged  by  his  honour  to  break  my  rebellious  spirit 
with  unknown  torments.  If  I  look  at  his  goodness  or 
his  love,  it  is  love  and  goodness  that  I  have  despised 
and  abused,  and  it  is  now  changed  into  divine  fury. 
If  I  look  at  the /ace  of  ^esus,  and  find  there  the  cor- 
respondent features  of  his  Father,  I  shall  then  hate  to 
see  it — for  this  very  reason,  because  it  bears  his  Fa- 
ther's image,  who  is  so  terrible  to  my  thoughts.     I 

K    2 


254  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  DISCOURSE  VI, 

shall  neither  be  able  to  bear  the  sight  of  God  or  of  his 
fairest  copy,  that  is,  Jesus  his  Son,  because  I  am  so 
shamefully  unlike  them  both,  and  besides,  I  have 
affronted  their  majesty,  and  despised  their  mercy. 

How  painful  and  smarting  will  be  the  reflection  of 
my  heart  in  that  day,  when  I  shall  remember,  that 
Jesus  called  out  to  me  from  heaven,  by  the  messen- 
gers of  his  grace,  and  said,  *'  Behold  me,  behold 
me,  look  unto  me  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and 
be  saved  :"  But  now  he  is  armed  with  a  commis- 
sion of  vengeance,  and  he  strikes  terror  and  exquisite 
pain  into  my  soul  with  every  frown,  so  that  I  shall 
wish  to  be  forever  '  hid  from  the  face  of  the  Lamb, 
for  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come,  and  who  shall 
be  able'  to  endure  this  wrath,  to  stand  before  his 
thunder,  or  bear  the  lightning  of  this  day  ?  Alas, 
how  miserable  must  I  be  by  an  everlasting  necessi- 
ty, if  I  cannot  bear  the  countenance  of  God  and 
Christ,  which  is  the  spring  of  unchangeable  happi- 
ness to  all  the  saints  and  the  blessed  angels  ?  Oh 
■may  I  timely  secure  the  love  of  my  God,  and  gain 
an  interest  in  the  favour  and  salvation  of  the  bless- 
ed Jesus  !  Here,  Oh  Lord,  at  thy  foot  I  lay  down 
all  the  weapons  of  my  former  rebellions  ;  I  implore 
thy  love  through  the  interest  of  thy  Son,  the  great 
Mediator  :  Let  me  see  the  light  of  thy  countenance, 
and  the  smiles  of  thy  face  :  Let  me  see  a  reconciled 
God,  and  let  him  tell  me  that  my  sins  are  all  for- 
given ;  then  shall  I  not  be  afraid  to  meet  the  coun- 
tenance of  him  that  sits   upon    the  throne,    or  the 


I 

DISCOURSE  VI.  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF   SINNERS.  255 

Lamb,  when   Christ  shall  return   from   heaven,  to 
punihh  the  impenitent  rebels,  against  divine  grace. 

Reji,  4.  *  How  hopeless,  as  well  as  distressed,  is 
the  case  of  sinners  in  that  day,  when  they  are  driv- 
en to  this  last  extremity,  to  seek  help  from  the  rocks 
and  the  mountains  ?'  It  is  the  last,  but  the  fruitless 
refuge  of  a  frighted  and  perishing  creature  :  The 
rocks  and  mountai)is  refuse  to  help  them;  they  will 
not  crush  to  death  those  wretches,  whom  the  justice 
of  God  has  doomed  to  a  painful  immortality,  nor 
will  they  conceal  or  shelter  those  obstinate  rebels, 
whom  the  Son  of  God  has  raised  out  of  their  graves, 
to  be  exposed  to  public  shame  and  punishment. 
Those  high  and  hollow  rocks,  those  dismal  dens 
and  caverns,  dark  as  midnight,  /those  deep  and 
gloomy  retreats  of  melancholy  and  sorrow,  which  they 
shunned  with  the  utmost  aversion,  and  could  hard- 
ly bear  to  think  of  them  without  horror  here  on  earth, 
are  now  become  their  only  retreat  and  shelter  ;  but 
it  is  a  very  vain  and  hopeless  one. 

Wiien  I  see  such  awful  appearances  in  nature^ 
huge  and  lofty  rocks  hanging  over  my  head,  and  at 
every  step  of  my  approach  they  seem  to  nod  upon 
me  with  overwhelming  ruin,  when  my  curiosity 
searches  far  into  their  hollow  clifts,  their  dark  and 
deep  caverns  of  solitude  and  desolation,  methinks 
while  I  stand  amongst  them,  I  can  hardly  think  my- 
self in  safety,  and  at  best  they  give  a  sort  of  solemn 
and  dreadful  delight :  Let  me  improve  the  scene  to 
religious  purposes,  and  raise  a  divine  medication. 
Am  I  one  of  those  wretches,  who  shall  call  to  these 


256  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.     DISCOURSE  VI. 

huge  impending  rocks  to  fall  upon  me  ?  Am  I  that 
guilty  and  miserable  creature,  who  shall  entreat 
these  mountains  to  cover  me  from  him  that  sits  on 
the  throne  and  the  Lamb  ?  Am  I  prepared  to  meet 
the  countenance  of  the  blessed  Jesus  the  Judge  in 
that  day  ?  Have  I  such  an  acquaintance  with  the 
Lamb  of  God  who  takes  away  the  sins  of  die  world, 
such  a  holy  faith  in  his  mediation,  such  a  sincere 
love  to  him,  and  such  an  unfeigned  repentance  of  all 
my  sins,  that  I  can  look  upon  him  as  my  friend  and 
my  refuge,  and  a  friend  infinitely  better  than  rocks 
and  mountains,  for  he  not  only  screens  me  from  the 
divine  anger,  but  introduces  me  into  the  Father's 
love,  and  places  me  in  his  blissful  presei  ce  forever? 
Reft,  5,  'What  hideous  and  everlasting  mischief 
IS  contained  in  the  nature  of  sin,  especially  sin  against 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  against  the  methods  of  grace, 
and  the  offers  of  salvation,  which  exposes  creatures  to 
such  extreme  distress?'  The  fairest  and  the  most 
flattering  iniquity,  what  beautiful  colours  soever  it 
may  put  on  in  the  hour  of  temptation,  yet  it  carries 
all  this  hidden  mischief  and  terror  in  the  bosom  of  it, 
for  it  frights  the  crtature  from  the  sight  of  his  Creator 
and  his  Saviour,  and  makes  him  fly  to  every  vain  re- 
fuge.  Adam  and  Eve,  ihe  parents  of  our  race,  when 
they  iosi  their  innocence  and  became  criminals,  fled 
from  the  presence  of  God,  who  they  conversed  with 
before  in  holy  friendship.  Gen.  iii.  8.  '  They  hid 
themselves  among  the  trees  of  Paradise,'  and  the 
thickest  shadows  of -he  garden;  but  the  eye  and  the 
voice  of  God  reached  them  there  :   The  curse  found 


JHSCOURSE   VI.  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF   SINNERS.  257 

them  out,  though  that  was  a  curse  allayed  with  the 
promised  blessing  of  a  Saviour.  Guilt  will  work  in 
the  conscience,  and  tell  us,  that  'God  is  angry,'  and 
the  next  thought  is,  *  where  shall  I  hide  myself  from 
an  anjrry  God?'  But  Vv^hen  the  mercy  of  God  has 
taught  us  where  we  may  hide  ourselves,  even  under 
the  bhadow  of  the  cross  of  his  Son,  and  we  refuse  to 
make  him  our  refuge,  there  remains  nothing  but  a 
final  horror  of  soul,  and  a  hopeless  address  to  rocks 
and  mountains,  to  hide  us  from  an  offended  God, 
and  a  provoked  Saviour. 

Whensoever,  Oh  my  soul,  thou  shalt  find  or  feel 
some  flattering*iniquity  alluring  thy  senses,  making 
cocirt  to  thy  heart,  and  ready  to  gain  upon  thy  inward 
wishes,  remember  the  distress  and  terror  of  heart 
that  sinners  must  undergo  in  the  great  and  terrible 
day  of  the  Lord.  Think  of  the  rocks  and  mountains 
which  they  vainly  call  upon  to  befriend  them,  to 
shield  them  from  the  vengeance  of  that  almighty  arm 
whi(^h  is  provoked  by  sin,  to  m.ake  his  creatures  mi- 
serable. Remember,  Oh  my  soul,  and  fear;  remem- 
ber and  resist  the  vile  temptation,  and  stand  afar 
off  from  that  practice,  which  will  make  thee  afraid 
to  see  the  face  of  God. 

Reft.  6.  *Of  what  infinite  importance  is  it  then  to 
sinners,  to  gain  a  humble  acquaintance  and  friendship 
with  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  takes  away  the  sins  of 
the  world,  that  we  may  be  able  with  comfort,  to  be. 
hold  the  face  of  him  that  sits  on  the  throne  in  that 
day.'  Which  of  us  can  say,  *1  am  not  a  sinner,  I 
am  not  guilty  before  God  ?'     And  which  of  us  then 


258  tHE   VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  DISCOURSE  VI. 

lias  the  couraj^e  and  hardiness  to  declare,  'I  have  no 
need  of  a  Saviour  ?'  And  is  there  any  one  amongst 
us,  who  hath  not  yet  fled  for  refuge  to  Jesus  our  only 
and  sufficient  hope?  There  is  a  protection  provided 
aj^ainst  a  provoked  God,  but  there  is  none  against  a 
neglected  and  abused  Saviour:  I  mean,  where  this 
neo^lect  and  abuse  is  final  and  unrepented.  Oh,  how- 
sol  icitous  should  every  soul  be,  in  a  matter  of  this 
divine  moment,  this  everlasting  importance  ?  What 
words  of  compassion  shall  we  use,  what  words  of 
aw^akening  terror,  to  put  sinners  in  mind  of  their  ex- 
treme danger,  if  they  neglect  the  only  security  which 
the  gospel  has  appointed?  What  language  of  fear 
and  importunity  shall  we  make  use  of,  to  hasten  you 
Oh  sinners,  to  the  acquaintance,  the  faith  and  the 
love,  of  Jesus  the  Saviour,  that  you  may  behold  his 
face,  and  the  face  of  the  Father,  with  serenity  and  joy 
in  the  last  day  ?  Give  yourselves  up  to  him  then  with- 
out further  delay,  as  your  teacher,  your  high-priest, 
your  reconciler,  your  Lord  and  king.  His  blessed 
offices  are  the  only  chambers  of  protection,  when 
God  shall  arise  to  burn  the  world,  and  to  avenge  him- 
self on  his  enemies  that  will  not  be  reconciled. 

RcjL  7.  Let  us  take  occasion  from  my  text,  also 
to  meditate  on  tiie  'happy  circumstances  of  true 
Christians,  in  that  day  of  terror:'  Behold  the  Judge 
appears,  he  cometh  in  the  clouds  sorrounded  with 
armies  of  a\''enging  angels,  the  ministers  of  his  in- 
dignation; he  rideth  on  a  chariot  of  flaming  fire,  the 
earth  w  ith  all  its  mountains  melt  like  w-ax  at  the  {=re- 
scr^ce  of  the  Lord,  the  fields  and  the  forests  become 


DISCOURSE  Vi.  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  259 

one  spacious  blaze,  the  sea  grows  dry  and  forsakes 
its  shores,  and  rivers  flee  away  at  his  hghtening;  the 
rocks  are  broken  and  shivered  at  the  appearance  of 
his  majesty,  the  tombs  are  thrown  open,  and  with 
terrible  dismay  shall  the  graves  give  up  their  dead  ; 
the  pyramids  of  brick  and  stone,  moulder  and  sink 
into  dust,  the  sepulchres  of  brass  and  marble  yield 
up  their  royal  prisoners,  and  all  the  captives  of  death 
awake  and  start  into  life,  at  the  voice  of  the  Son  of 
God.  Amidst  all  these  scenes  of  surprise  and  hor- 
ror, with  how  serene  a  countenance,  and  how  peaceful 
a  soul,  do  the  saints  awake  from  their  beds  of  earths 
Calm  and  serene  among  all  these  confusions  they 
arise  from  their  long  slumber,  and  go  to  meet  their 
returning  Saviour  and  tiicir  friend.  They  have  seen 
him  in  the  glass  of  his  gospel,  submitted  to  his  laws, 
and  rejoiced  in  his  grace,  and  they  now  delight  to  see 
him  fiice  to  face  in  his  glory.  They  have  seen  him 
vested  with  his  commission  of  mercy,  they  have 
heard  and  received  his  message  of  goodness  and  love, 
and  they  cannot  but  rejoice  to  see  him  coming  to 
fulfil  his  last  promises.  They  have  cheerfully  sub- 
jected  themselves  to  his  government  here  on  earth, 
they  have  followed  him  in  paths  of  holiness,  through 
the  wilderness  of  this  world;  and  what  remains,  but 
that  they  be  publicly  acknowledged  by  Jesus  the 
Judge  of  all,  and  follow  him  up  to  the  place  of  bles- 
sedness v/hich  he  hath  prepared  for  them. 

Perhaps  some  of  these  holy  ones,  in  the  days  of  the 
flesh,  were  banished  from  the  cities  and  the  societies 
of  m.en  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  thev  were  driven  oqt 


260  THE   VAIN   REFUGE  OF  SINNERS,  UlSCOURSE  Vl. 

from  their  native  towns,  and  forced  to  seek  a  shelter 
in  solitary  'dens  and  caves'  among  rocks  and  moun- 
tains,  '*to  wander  through  desarts  in  sheep-skins  and 
goat-skins,  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented,"  Heb.  xi. 
31.  They  made  the  clefts  of  the  rock  and  caverns 
of  the  earth  their  refuge  from  the  face  of  their  cruel 
persecutors:  The  mountains  and  rocks  sheltered 
them  from  the  wrath  of  princes,  and  the  dark  grottos 
of  the  earth,  and  the  dens  of  wild  beasts,  concealed 
them  from  the  rage  of  men,  from  the  sword  of  the 
mighty  ;  but  nov/  the  scene  is  gloricnisly  changed, 
the  martyrs  and  holy  confessors  awaking  from  their 
graves,  exult  and  triumph  in  the  smiles  of  their 
Judge,  and  receive  pubhc  honours  before  the  whole 
creation  of  God.  They  behold  the  infinite  conster- 
nation of  haughty  tyrants  and  persecuting  princes, 
of  proud  geiierals  and  bloody  captains  in  that  day  : 
They  hear  them  'call  to  rocks  and  mountains  to  hide 
them  from  the  face  of  him  that  sits  upon  the  throne 
and  the  Lamb.'  The  authority  and  regal  honour  of 
the  emperors  of  the  earth,  hath  long  slept  in  the  dust, 
but  it  is  lost  there  for  ever;  their  glory  shall  not  awake 
nor  arise  with  them:  Behold  the  mighty  sinners  who 
have  been  the  enemies  of  Christ,  or  negligent  of  his 
salvation,  how  they  creep  aifrighted  out  of  their  shat- 
tered marbles,  and  leave  all  that  pomp  and  pride  of 
death  in  ruins,  to  appear  before  God  with  shan\e  and 
everlasting  contempt.  The  men  of  arms,  the  captains 
and  sons  of  valour,  whose  swords  lay  under  their 
heads,  with  their  trophies  and  titles  spread  around 
them,  shall  raise  their  heads  up  from  the  dust,  with 


DISCOURSE  VI.         THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  261 

Utmost  ciiFright  and  anguish. of  s])irit :  Their  courage 
fails  them  before  the  foce  of  Jesu^  the  Lord  and  Judge 
of  the  whole  creation.  They  would  fly  to  the  com- 
mon refuge  of  slaves,  they  shrink  into  tjie  h'Jes  of  the 
rocks,  and  cull  to  the  mountains  to  screen  and  pro- 
tect them  :  *and  every  bond-man,  and  every  free- 
man,'  who  have  not  known  nor  loved  God  and  Christ, 
are  plunged  into  extremest  distress;  but  the  humble 
Christian  is  serene  jjnd  joyful,  and  lifts  up  his  head 
widi  courage  and  delight,  in  the  midst  of  these  scenes 
of  astonishment  and  dismay. 

*He  is  come,  he  is  come,  saith  the  saint,  even  that 
Lord  Jesus,  whom  I  have  seen,  whom  I  have  known 
and  loved  in  the  days  of  my  mortal  life,  whom  I  have 
long  waited  for  m  the  dust  of  deaths  he  is  come  to 
reward  all  my  labours,  to  wipe  away  all  my  borrows, 
to  fmisli  my  faith,  and  turn  it  into  sight,  to  fultil  all 
m\  ho;M-s  and  his  own  promises  ;  he  is  come  to  de- 
liver me  for  ever,  from  all  my  enemies,  and  to  bear 
me  to  the  place  which  he  has  prepared  for  those  that 
love  him,  and  long  for  his  appearance. 

*  O  blessed  be  the  God  of  grace,  who  hath  con- 
vinced m.e  of  the  sins  of  my  nature,  and  the  sins  of 
my  life  in  the  days  of  my  flesh;  who  hath  discovered 
to  me  the  danger  of  a  guilty  and  sinful  state,  hath 
shewn  me  the  commission  of  mercy  in  the  hands  of 
his  Son,  hath  pointed  me  to  the  L^mib  of  God,  who 
was  offered  as  a  sacrifice  to  take  away  the  sins  of 
rnen,  and  hath  inclined  me  to  receive  him  in  all  his 
divine  cliaracters  and  offices,  and  to  follow  the  Cap- 
tain of  my  salvation  through  all  the  labours  and  dan- 

L  2 


262  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.        DISCOURSE  VI. 

gers  of  life.  I  have  trusted  him,  I  have  loved  him, 
I  have  endeavoured,  though  under  many  frailties,  to 
honour  and  obey  him,  and  I  can  now  behold  his  face 
without  terror  :  While  the  mighty  men  of  the  earth 
tremble  with  amazement,  and  call  to  the  rocks  and 
mcuintains  to  hide  them  from  his  face,  I  rejoice  to  see 
him  in  his  robes  of  judgment,  for  he  is  come  to  pro- 
nounce me  righteous  in  the  face  of  men  and  angels, 
to  declare  me  a  good  and  faithful  servant  before  the 
whole  creation,  to  ^et  the  crown  of  victory  on  my 
head,  to  take  me  to  heaven  with  him,  that  'where  he 
is  1  may  be  also  to  behold  his  glory,'  and  to  partake 
for  ever  of  the  blessings  of  his  love.'    Amen. 


DISCOURSE  VII. 
NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 

Rev.  xxii.   25. 

And  there  shall  be  no  Night  there. 

LENGTH  of  night  and  over-spreading  darkness 
in  the  winter  season,  carries  so  many  inconveniencies 
with  it,  that  it  is  generally  esteemed  a  most  uncom- 
fortable part  of  our  time.  Though  night  and  day 
necessarily  succeed  each  other  all  the  year,  by  the 
wise  appointment  of  God  in  the  course  of  nature,  by 
means  of  the  revolution  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  or 
rather  of  this  earthly  globe,  yet  the  night-season  is 
neither  so  delightful  nor  so  useful  a  part  of  life,  as 
the  duration  of  day-light.  It  is  the  voice  of  all  nature, 
as  well  as  the  word  of  Solomon,  **  light  is  sweet,  and 
a  pleasant  thing  to  enjoy  the  sun-bejms."  Light 
gives  a  glory  and  beauty  to  every  thing  that  is  visible, 
and  shews  the  face  of  nature  in  its  most  agreeable  co- 
lours ;  but  night,  as  it  covers  all  the  visible  world 
with  one  dark  and  undistinguishing  vail,  is  less  pleas- 
ing to  all  the  animal  parts  of  the  creation.  Therefore 
as  hell  and  the  place  of  punishment  is  called  *  utter 
darkness'  in  Scripture,  so  heaiicn  is  represented  as  a 
mansion  of  'glory,'  as  the  *  inheritance  of  ihc  sanUs 
in  light:'     And  this  light  is  constant  without  inter- 


264  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  DISCOURSE  VII. 

ruption,  and  everlasting,   or  without  end  :     So  my 
text  expresses  it,   Hhere  shall  be  no  night  there.' 

Lei  it  be  observed,  that  jn  the  language  of  the  holy 
writers,    Might'    is  often   ascribed  to  intellectual  be- 
ings, and  is  used  as  a  metaphor  to  imply  '  knowledge, 
an(i  holiness,  and  joy.'     '■  Knowledge'  as  the  beauty 
and  excellency  of  the  '  mind,'   '  holiness'  as  the  best 
regulation  of  the  *  will,'  and  'joy'  as  the  harmony  of 
our  best  affections  in  the  possession  of  what  we  love  : 
And  in  opposition  to  these,  *  ignorance,  iniquity  and 
sorrow,'  are  represented  b)  the  metaphor  of  'dark- 
ness.' Then  we  are  in  *  darkness'  in  a  spiritual  sense, 
when  the  understanding  is  beclouded  or  led  into  mis- 
take,   or   when  the  will  is  perverted  or  turned  away 
froni  God  and  holiness,  or  when  the  most  uncomfort- 
able affections  prevail  in  the  soul.   I  might  cite  parti- 
cular texts  of  Scripture  to  exemplify  all  this.     And 
when  it  is  said,.'  there  shall  be  no  night  in  heaven," 
it  may  be  very  well  applied  in  the  spiritual  sense  ; 
there  shall  be  no  errors  or  mistakes  among  the  blessed, 
no  such  ignorance  as  to  lead  them  astray,  or  to  make 
them  uneasy  ;    the  w  ill  shall  never  be  turned  aside 
from  its  pursuit  of  holiness,  and  obedience  to  God; 
nor  shall  the  affections  ever  be  ruffled  with  any  thing 
that  may  administer  grief  and  pain.     Clear  and  un- 
erring knowledge,  unspotted  holiness,  and  everlast- 
ing joy,  shall  be  the  portion  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  upper  world.    These  are  more  common  subjects 

of  discourse. 

But  I  chuse  rather  at  present  to  consider  this  word 

NIGHT,  in  Its  literal  stiise,  and  shall  endeavour  to 


DISCOURSE  VII.  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  265' 

repre-^cnt  part  of  the  blessedness  of  the  heavenly 
stale,  under  this  special  description  of  it.  '  There 
is  no  night  there'. 

No^r,  in  Older  to  pursue  this  design,  let  us  take 
a  brief  survey  of  the  several  e'uils  or  incotiDemenccs 
which  attend  the  night,  or  the  season  of  darkness 
here  on  earth,  and  shew  how  far  the  heavenly  world 
is  removed,  and  free  from  all  manner  of  inconveni- 
ence of  this  kind. 

1.  Though  night  be  the  season  of  sleep  for  the 
relief  of  nature,  and  for  our  refreshment  after  the  la« 
bours  of  the  day,  yet  *  it  is  a  certain  sign  of  the  weak- 
ness and  weariness  of  nature,  when  it  wants  such 
refreshments,  and  such  dark  seasons  of  relief.'  But 
there  is  no  night  in  heaven.  Say;  O  ye  inhabitants 
of  that  vitL;!  world,  are  ye  ever  weary  ?  Do  your  na- 
tures know  any  such  weakness  ?  Or  are  your  holy 
labours  of  such  a  kind,  as  to  expose  you  to  fat!;;ue, 
or  to  tire  your  spirits?  The  blessed  above  '  mount  up 
towards  God  as  on  eagles  wings,  they  run  at  the 
command  of  God  and  ;e  not  weary,  they  walk  on 
the  hills  of  paradise  and  never  faint,'  as  the  Prophet 
Isaiah  expresses  a  vigorous  and  pleasurable  state. 
Chap.   xl.  ver.  last. 

There  are  no  such  animal  bodies  in  heaven,  whose 
natural  springs  of  action  can  be  exhausted  or  weak- 
ened by  the  business  of  the  day  :  There  is  no  flesh 
and  blood  there,  to  complain  of  weariness,  and  to 
want  rest.  O  blessed  state,  where  our  faculties  shall 
be  so  iiappily  suited  to  our  work,  that  we  shall  never 
feel  ourselves  ucary  of  it,   nor  fatigued  by  it. 


26-6  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.       £)ISCOURSE   Vlll 

And,  as  there  is  no  weariness,  so  there  is  no  sleep- 
ing ^in  re.  Sleep  was  not  made  for  the  heavenly 
statr.  Can  the  spirits  of  the  just  ever  sleep,  under 
the  full  blaze  of  divine  glory,  under  the  incessant 
communications  of  divine  love,  under  the  perpetual 
influences  of  the  grace  of  God  the  Father,  and  of  Je- 
sus the  Saviour,  and  amidst  the  inviting  confluence 
of  every  spring  of  blessedness. 

2.  Another  inconvenience  of  night,  near  akin  to 
the  former,  is,  that  *  business  is  interrupted  by  it, 
partly  for  want  of  light  to  perform  it,  as  well  as  for 
want  of  strength  and  spirits  to  pursue  it.'  This  is 
constantly  visij^le  in  the  successions  of  laboj^ir  and  re- 
pose here  on  earth  ;  and  the  darkness  of  the  night 
is  appointed  to  interrupt  the  course  of  labour,  and 
the  business  of  the  day,  that  nature  may  be  recruit- 
ed. But  the  business  of  heaven  is  never  interrupt- 
ed ;  there  is  everlasting  light  and  everlasting  strength. 
Say,  ye  blessed  spirits  on  high,  who  join  in  the  ser- 
vices which  are  performed  for  God  and  the  Lamb 
there,  ye  who  unite  all  your  powers  in  the  worship 
and  homage  that  is  paid  to  the  Father  and  to  the  Son, 
ye  that  mingle  in  all  the  joyful  conversation  of  that 
divine  and  holy  Assembly,  say,  is  there  found  any 
useless  hour  there?  Do  your  devotions,  your  duties 
and  your  joys,  ever  suffer  such  an  entire  interruption 
of  rest  and  silence,  as  the  season  of  darkness  on  earth 
necessarily  creates  amgngst  the  inhabitants  of  our 
world. 


•DISCOITRSE  VIT.         NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


267 


The  living  creatures  *  which  are  represented  by 
John  the  Apostle,  in  Rev.  iv.  whether  they  signify 
saints  or  angels,  yet  they  were  *  full  of  eyes'  that  never 
slumber;     *  they  rest  not  day  nor  night;'    this  is 
spoken  in  the  language  of  mortals,  to  signify,  that 
they  are  never  interrupted  by  any  change  of  seasons, 
or  intervening  darkness  in  the  honours  they  pay  to 
God  :     They  are  described  as  ever  saying,   *'  Holy, 
holy,  holy.  Lord  God  Almighty,  who  was,  and  is, 
and  is  to  come."     And  the  same  sort  of  expression 
is  used  concerning  the  saints  in  heaven.     Rev.  vii. 
15.   "  They  who  came  out  of  great  tribulation,  and 
have  washed   their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  they  are  before  the  throne 
of  God,  and  serve  him  day  and  night  in  his  temple," 
i.  e.  they  constantly   serve  or  worship  him  in  his 
holy  temple  in  heaven.    Perhaps  the  different  orders 
and  ranks  of  them  in  a  continual    succession,  are 
ever  doing  some  honours  to  God.     As  there  is  no 
night  there,  so  there  is  no  cessation  of  their  services, 
their  worship,  and  their  holy  exercises,  in  one  form 
or  another,  throughout  the  duration  of  their  being. 

Our  pleasures  here  on  earth  are  short-lived  :  If 
they  are  intense,  nature  cannot  bear  them  long,  any 
more  than  constant  business  and  labour  :  And,  if 
our  labours  and  our  pleasures  should  happily  join 
and  mingle  here  on  earth,  which  is  not  always  the 
case,  yet  night  compels  us  to  break  off  the  pleasing 

•  The  word  Zi;«,  which  is  translated  beasts,  signifies  only  animals  or 
living  creatures,  and  does  not  carry  with  it  so  mean  and  so  disagreeable  an 
ff^a  as  the  word  deasta   in  English. 


268  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVE>r.       DISCOURSE  VII. 

labour,  and  we  must  rest  from  the  most  delightful 
business.  Happy  is  that  region  on  high,  were  busi- 
ness and  pleasure  are  for  ever  the  same  among  all 
the  inhabitants  of  it,  and  there  is  no  pause  or  entire 
cessLition  of  the  one  or  the  other.  Tell  me,  ye  warm 
and  lively  Christians,  when  your  hearts  are  sv/eetiy 
and  joyfully  engaged  in  the  worship  of  God,  in  holy 
conversation,  or  in  any  pious  services  here  on  earth, 
how  often  you  have  been  forced  to  break  off  ?hese 
celestial  entertainments  by  the  returning  niidit  ? 
But  in  the  heavenly  state  theie  is  everlasting  active 
service,    with  everlasting  delight  and  satisfaction. 

In  that  blessed  world  there  can  be  no  idleness,  no 
inactivity,  no  trifling  intervals  to  pass  away  time,  no 
vacant  or  empty  spaces  in  eternal  life.  Who  can  be 
idle  under  the  immediate  eye  of  God?  Who  ca.-\  ui- 
fle  in  the  presence  of  Christ  ?  Who  can  neglect  die 
pleasurable  work  of  heaven,  under  the  sweet  influ- 
ences of  the  present  E^trity,  and  under  the  srtdles  of 
his  countenance,  who  approves  all  their  work  and 
worship  ? 

3.  As  in  our  present  world  '  "he  hours  of  night' 
are  unactive  if  we  sleep,  so  '  they  seem  lony;  ,^nd 
tedious  when  our  eyes  are  wakeful,  and  sleep  flies 
from  us.'  Perhaps  we  hear  the  clock  strike  one  hour 
after  another,  with  wearisome  longings  for  the  next 
succeeding  hour:  We  wish  the  dnrk  season  at  an 
end,  and  we  long  for  the  approach  of  morning,  we 
grow  impatient  for  the  dawning  of  the  day.  But  in 
heaven,  ye  spirits  who  have  dwelt  tbngest  there,  can 
ye  remember  one  tiresome  or  tedious  hour,  through  all 


DISCOURSE   VII.  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  2G9 

the  years  of  your  residence  iu  that  country  ?  Is  there 
not  eternal  wakefuhiess  amoni^  all  the  blessed  ?  Can 
any  of  you  ever  indulge  a  slumber  ?  Can  you  sleep 
in  heaven  ?  Can  you  want  it,  or  wish  for  it  >  No, 
for  that  world  is  all  vital  and  sprightly  for  ever. 
When  we  leave  this  flesh  and  blood,  farewel  to  all 
the  tedious  measures  of  time,  farewel  tiresome  dark- 
ness; our  whole  remaining  duration  is  life  and  light, 
vital  activity  and  vigour,  attended  with  everlasting 
holiness  and  joy. 

4.  While  we  are  here  on  earth,  *  the  darkness  of 
the  night  often  exposes  us  to  the  danger  of  losing 
our  way,  of  wandering  into  confusion,  or  falling  in- 
to mischief.'  When  the  sun-beams  have  withdrawn 
their  light,  and  midnight  clouds  over-spread  the 
heaven,  we  cannot  see  our  path  before  us,  we  can- 
not  pursue  our  proper  course,  nor  secure  ourselves 
from  stumbling.  How  many  travellers  have  been 
betrayed  by  the  thick  shadows  of  the  night,  into  mis- 
taken ways  or  pathless  deserts,  into  endless  mazes 
among  thorns  and  briars,  into  bogs,  and  pits,  and 
precipices,  into  sudden  destruction  and  death  ?  But 
there  are  no  dangers  of  this  kind  in  the  heavenl}^ 
world  :  All  the  regions  of  paradise  are  for  ever  illu- 
minated by  the  glory  of  God:  The  light  of  his  coun- 
tenance shines  upon  every  step  that  we  shall  take, 
and  brightens  all  our  way.  We  shall  walk  in  the 
light  of  God,  and  under  the  blessed  beams  of  the  Son 
of  righteousness,  and  we  are  secured  for  ever  against 
wandering,  antlagainst  every  danger  of  tripping  or  fall- 
ing in  our  course.    *  Our  feet  may  stumble  on  the  dark 

M   2 


270  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.         DISCOURSE  VII. 

mountains  here  below,'  but  there  is  no  stumbling- 
block  on  the  hills  of  paradise,  nor  can  we  go  astray 
from  our  God  or  our  duty.  The  paths  of  that  coun- 
try are  all  pleasure,  and  ever-livin.s:  day-light  shines 
upon  them  without  end.  Happy  beings  who  dwell 
or  travel  there  ! 

5.  '  In  the  night  we  are  exposed  here  on  earth,  to 
the  violence  and  plunder  of  wicked  men,  whether 
we  are  abroad  or   at  home.'     There   is  scarce  any 
safety  now  a-days  to  those  who  travel  in  the  night, 
and  even  in  our  own  habitations  there  is  frequent 
fear  and  surprise.     At  that  season,  the  sons  of  mis- 
chief '  dig  through  houses  in  the  dark,  which  they 
had  marked  for  themselves  in  the  day-time :   They 
lurk  in  corners  to  seize  the  innocent,  and  to  rob  him' 
of  ills  possessions.     But  in  the  heavenly  world  there 
is  no  dark  hour;  there  is  nothing  that  can  encour- 
age such  mischievous  designs;  nor  are  an*    ^f  the 
sons  of  violence,  or  the  malicious  powers  of  uark- 
ness,  suffered  to  have  an  abode  or  refuge  in  that 
country.    No  surprise  nor  fear  belongs  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  those  regions.     Happy  souls,  who  spend  all 
their  life  in  the  light  of  the  countenance  of  God,  and 
are  for  ever  secure  from  the  plots  and  mischievous 
devices  of  the  wicked  ! 

While  we  dwell  here  below,  amongst  the  chang- 
ing seasons  of  light  and  darkness,  what  daily  care  is 
taken  to  shut  the  doors  of  our  dwellings  against  the 
men  of  mischief  ?  What  solicitude  in  a  time  of  war  to 
keep  the  gates  of  our  towns  and  cities  well  secured 
against  all  invasion  of  enemies  ?     '  Every  man  with 


DISCOURSE  VII.  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  .271 

his  su'ord  upon  his  thigh,  because  of  fear  hi  the 
night.'  But  in  that  blessed  world  there  is  no  need  of 
such  defences;  no  such  guardian  cares  to  secure  ^he 
inhabi cants.  *  The  gates  of  that  city  shall  nof-  be 
shut  by  day,  and  there  is  no  niirht  there.'  There 
shines  perpetual  day-light,  and  the  gates  are  ever 

'  open  to  receive  new-comers  from  our  world,  or  for 
the  conveyance  of  orders  and  messages  to  and  fro 
from  the  throne  through  all  the  dominions  of  God 
and  of  the  Lamb.  Blessed  are  the  inhabitants  of  that 
country,  where  there  are  no  dangers  arising  from  any 
of  the  wicked  powers  of  darkness,  nor  any  dark  mi- 
nute  to  favour  their  plots  of  mischief. 

6.  The    *  time  of  night  and  darkness  is  the  time 
of  the  concealment  of  secret  sins.'  Shameful  iniqui- 

'  ties  are  then  practised  amongst  men,  because  the 
darkness  is  a  cover  to  them.  **  The  eye  of  the 
adulterer  watches  for  the  twilight,  saying,  no  eye 
shall  see  me,"  Job  xxiv.  15.  '  In  the  black  and 
dark  night'  he  hopes  for  concealment  as  well  as  the 
thief  and  the  murderer,  *«  and  they  that  are  drunk- 
en, are  drunken  in  the  night,"  1  Thes.  v.  7.  The 
hours  of  darkness  are  a  temptation  to  these  iniqui- 
ties, and  the  shadows  of  the  evening  are  a  vail  to  co- 
ver them  from  the  sight  of  men :  They  find  a  screen 
behind  the  curtains  of  the  night,  and  a  refuge  in  thick 
darkness.  But  in  the  heavenly  world  there  is  no 
temptation  to  such  iniquities,  no  defilement  can  gain 
an  entrance  there,  nor  could  it  find  any  vail  or  cover- 
ing. The  regions  of  light,  and  peace,  and  holy  love, 
are  never  violated  wiUi  such  scenes  of  villany  and 


272  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.        DISCOURSE   VII. 

guilt.  No  secret  sins  can  be  committed  there,  nor 
can  they  hope  for  any  screen  to  defend  them  from  the 
eye  of  God  and  the  Lamb,  '  whose  eyes  are  like  a 
flame  of  fire.'  The  light  of  God  shines  round  every 
creature  in  that  country,  and  there  is  not  a  saint  or 
angel  there,  that  desires  a  covering  from  the  sight 
of  God,  nor  would  accept  of  a  vail  or  screen  to  in- 
terpose between  him  and  the  lovely  glories  of  divine 
holiness  and  grace.  To  behold  God,  and  to  live  un- 
der the  blessings  of  his  eye,  is  their  everlasting  and 
chosen  joy.     O  that  our  world  were  more  like  it ! 

7.  When  the  night  returns  upon  us  here  on  earth, 
*  the  pleasures  of  sight  vanish  and  are  lost.'  Know- 
ledge is  shut  out  at  one  entrance  in  a  great  degree, 
and  one  of  our  senses  is  withheld  from  the  spread- 
ing beauties  and  glories  of  this  lower  creation,  al- 
most as  though  we  were  deprived  of  it,  and  were 
grown  blind  for  a  season. 

It  is  true,  the  God  of  nature  has  appointed  the 
moon  and  stars  to  relieve  the  darkness  at  some  sea- 
sons, that  when  the  sun  is  withdrawn,  half  the  world 
at  those  hours  may  not  be  in  confusion  :  And  by  the 
inve.iiions  of  men,  we  are  furnished  with  lamps  and 
-  car.dles  to  relieve  our  darkness  within  doors:  But  if 
-we  otir  abroad  in  the  black  and  dark  night,  instead 
of  the  various  and  delightful  scenes  of  the  creation 
of  God  in  the  skies  and  the  fields,  we  are  presented 
with  an  universal  blank  of  nature,  and  one  of  the 
great  entertainments  and  satisfactions  of  this  life,  is 
quite  taken  away  from  us.  But  in  heaven,  the  glo- 
ries of  that  world  are  for  ever  in  view  :    The  beau- 


DISCOURSE  VII.  NO  NIGHT  IN   HEAVEN. 

teous  scenes  and  prospects  of  the  hills  of  paradise  arc 
never  hidden  :  we  shall  there  continually  behold  a 
rich  variety  of  *  things  which  eye  hath  not  seen  on 
earth,  which  ear  hath  not  heard,  and  which  the  heart 
of  man  hath  not  conceived.'  Say,  ye  souls  in  para- 
dise, ye  ir.hubitants  of  that  glorious  world,  is  there 
any  loss  of  pleasure  by  your  absence  from  those 
works  of  God  which  are  visible  here  on  earth,  w^hile 
you  are  for  ever  entertained  with  those  brighter 
works  of  God  in  the  upper  world?  while  every  cor- 
ner of  that  country  is  enlightened  by  the  glory  of 
God  himself,  and  w^hile  the  Son  of  God  with  all  his 
beams  of  grace  shines  for  ever  upon  it. 

8.  It  is  another  unpleasing  circumstance  of  the 
night  season,  *  that  it  is  the  r>;'ldest  part  of  time.' 
When  the  sun  is  sunk  below  the  earth,  and  its  beams 
are  hidden  from  us,  its  kindly  and  vital  heat,  as  well 
as  its  light,  are  removed  from  one  side  of  the  globe; 
and  this  gives  a  sensible  uneasiness  in  the  hours  of 
midnight,  to  those  who  are  not  well  provided  with 
warm  accommodations. 

And  I  might  add  also,  it  is  too  often  night  with 
us  in  a  spiritual  sense,  while  we  dwell  here  on  earth  : 
Our  hearts  are  cold  as  well  as  dark  :  How  seldom  do 
we  feel  that  fervency  of  spirit  in  religious  duties 
which  God  requires  ?  How  cool  is  our  love  to  the 
greatest  and  the  best  of  beings?  How  languid  and 
indifferent  are  our  affections  to  the  Son  God,  the 
chiefest  often  thousand,  and  altogether  lovely  ?  And 
how  much  d^>th  the  devotion  of  our  souls  uant  its 
proper  ardour  and  vivacity  ? 


274  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.         DISCOURSE  Vlf. 

But  when  the  soul  is  arrived  at  heaven,  we  shall 
be  all  warm  and  fervent  in  our  divine  and  delight- 
ful work.  As  there  shall  be  nothing  painful  to  the 
senses  in  that  blessed' cHmate,  so  there  shall  not  be 
one  cold  heart  there,  nor  so  much  as  one  lukewarm 
worshipper  ;  for  we  shall  live  under  the  immediate 
rays  of  God  who  formed  the  light,  and  under  the 
kindest  influences  of  '  Jesus  the  Son  of  righteous- 
ness.' We  shall  be  made  like  his  angels  who  are 
most  active  spirits,  and  '  his  ministers'  uho  *'  are 
flames  of  fire."  Psal.  civ.  3.  Nor  shall  any  dulness 
or  indiffcrency  hang  upon  our  sanctified  powers  and 
passions  :  They  shall  be  all  warm  and  vigorous  in 
their  exercise,  amidst  the  holy  enjoyments  of  that 
country. 

In  the  9th  and  last  place,  as  night  is  the  season 
appointed  for  sleep,  '  so  it  becomes  a  constant  peri- 
odical emblem  of  death,  as  it  returns  every  evening.' 
Sleep  and  m/idnight,  as  I  have  shewn  before,  arc  no 
seasons  of  labour  or  activity,  nor  of  delight  in  the 
visible  things  of  this  world  :  It  is  a  dark  and  stupid 
scene  wherein  we  behold  nothing  with  truth,  though 
we  are  sometimes  deceived  and  deluded  by  dream- 
ing visions  and  vanities  :  Night,  and  the  slumbers 
of  it,  are  a  sort  of  shorter  death  and  burial,  inter- 
posed between  the  several  daily  scenes  and  transact- 
ons  of  human  life.  But  in  heaven,  as  there  is  no 
sleeping,  there  is  no  dying,  nor  is  there  any  thing 
there  that  looks  like  death.  Sleep,  the  image  or  em- 
blem of  deadi,  is  for  ever  banished  from  that  world. 
All  is  vital  activity  there :     Every  power  is  immor- 


DISCOURSE   VII.  NO  NIGHT   IN  HEAVEN.  Q7S 

tal,  and  every  thing  that  dwells  there  is  for  ever 
alive.  There  can  be  no  death,  nor  the  image  of  it^ 
where  the  ever-living  God  dwells  and  shines  with  his 
kin(!est  beams;  his  presence  maintains  perpetual  vi- 
tality in  every  soul,  and  keeps  the  new  creature  in  its 
youth  and  vigour  for  ever.  The  saints  shall  never 
have  reason  to  mourn  over  their  withering  graces, 
languid  virtues,  or  dying  comforts ;  nor  shall  they 
ever  complain  of  drowzy  faculties,  or  unactive  powers, 
where  God  and  the  Lamb  are  for  ever  present  in  the 
iiiidM  of  them.  Shall  I  invite  your  thoughts  to  dwell 
a  liitle  upon  this  subject? 

Shall  we  make  a  more  particular  *  enquiry,  whence 
it  comes  to  pass  that  there  is  no  night  nor  darkness 
in  the  heavenly  city  ?'  We  are  told  a  little  before  the 
words  of  my  text,  that  *the  glory  of  God  enlightens 
it,  and  the  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof.  There  is  no 
need  of  the  sun  by  day,  or  of  the  moon  by  night  j' 
there  is  no  need  of  any  such  change  of  seasons  as  day 
and  night  in  the  upper  regions,  nor  any  such  alternate 
enlightners  of  a  dai^k  world,  as  God  has  placed  in  our 
iirmatnent,  or  in^this  visible  sky.  The  inheritance 
of  the  saints  in  light  is  sufficiently  irradiated  by  God 
himself,  who  at  his  first  call  made  the  light  spring  up 
out  of  darkness  over  a  wide  chaos  of  confusion,  be- 
fore the  sun  and  moon  appeared  ;  and  the  beams  of 
divine  light,  grace  and  glory,  are  communicated 
from  God,  the  original  foundation  of  it,  by  the  Lamb, 
to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  heavenly  country.  It  was 
by  Jesus  his  Son  that  God  made  the  light  at  first^ 
and  by  him  he  conveys  it  to  all  the  happy  worlds. 


276  NO  NIGHT  IN   HEAVEN.  DISCOURSE  VII. 

There  is  no  doubt  of  this  in  the  present  heaven  of 
sahits  departed  from  flesh,  who  are  ascended  *tc.  the 
spirits  of  the  just  made  peifect.'  It  is  one  of  dicir 
privileges  that  they  go  to  dwell,  not  only  where  they 
see  the  face  of  God,  but  where  they  behold  the  glory 
of  Christ,  and  converse  with  *  Jesus  the  Mediator  of 
the  new^  covenant,'  and  are  *for  ever  present  with  the 
Lord'  who  redeemed  them.  Heb.  xii.  23,  24.  2  Cor. 
V.  8.  Since  his  mediatorial  kingdom  and  offi-  es  are 
not  yet  finished  in  the  present  heaven  of  separate 
souls,  we  may  depend  on  this  blessedness  to  be  com- 
municated throujrh  Christ  the  Lamb  of  > -od,  and  all 
the  spiritual  enjoyments  and  felicities  which  are  re- 
presented under  the  metaphor  of  Might,'  are  convey- 
ed to  them  through  Jesus  the  Mediator. 

The  sun,  in  the  natural  world,  is  a  bright  emblem 
of  divinity,  or  the  Godhead,  for  it  is  the  spring  of  jU 
light,  and  heat,  and  life,  to  the  creation.  It  is  by  the 
influences  of  the  sun,  that  herbs,  plants,  and  animals^ 
are  produced  in  their  proper  seasons,  and  in  all  their 
various  beauties,  and  they  are  all  refreshed  and  sup- 
ported by  it.  Now  if  we  should  suppose  ihis  vast 
globe  of  fire  which  we  call  *the  sun,'  to  be  inclosed 
in  a  huge  hollow  sphere  of  crystal,  which  should  at- 
temper  its  rays  like  a  transparent  vail,  and  give  milder 
and  gender  influences  to  the  burning  beams  of  it, 
and  \et  transmit  every  desirable  and  useful  portion 
of  light  or  heat,  this  would  be  an  happy  emblem  of 
the  man  ^Christ  Jesus,  in  whom  dwells  all  the  fulness 
of  the  GodliCLid  bodily.'  It  is  the  Lamb  of  God  who, 
in  a  mild  and  gracious  manner,  conveys  the  blessings 


DISCOURSE  VII.  NO  NIGHT   IN  HEAVEN.  277 

originally  derived  from  God  his  Father  to  all  the 
saints.  We  partake  of  them  in  our  measure  in  this 
lower  world  among  his  churches  here  on  earth ;  but 
it  is  with  a  nobler  influence,  and  in  a  more  sublime 
degree,  the  blessings  of  paradise  are  diffused  through 
all  the  mansions  of  glory,  by  this  illustrious  medium 
of  conveyance,  Jesus  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  there  can 
be  no  night  nor  coldness,  death  nor  darkness,  in  this 
happy  state  of  separate  souls. 

When  the  bodies  of  the  saints  shall  be  raised  again, 
and  re- united  to  their  proper  spirits,  when  they  shall 
ascend  to  the  place  of  their  final  heaven  and  supreme 
happiness,  we  know  not  what  manner  of  bodies  they 
shall  be,  what  sort  of  senses  they  shall  be  furnished 
with,  nor  how  many  powers  of  cf.'>  versing  with  the 
corporeal  world  shall  be  bestowed  upon  them.  Whe- 
ther they  shall  have  such  organs  of  sensation  as  eyes 
and  ears,  and  stand  in  need  of  such  light  as  we  de- 
rive from  the  sun  or  moon,  is  not  absolutely  certain. 
The  Scripture  tells  us,  it  shall  not  be  a  body  of  flesh 
and  blood  :  These  are  not  materials  refined  enough 
for  the  heavenly  state ;  "that  which  is  corruptible 
cannot  inherit  incorruption."  1  Cor.  xv.  50.  But- 
this  we  may  be  assured  of,  that  whatsoever  inlets  of 
knowledge,  whatever  avenues  of  pleasure,  whatever 
delightful  sensations  are  necessary  to  make  the  inha- 
bitants of  that  world  happy,  they  shall  be  all  united 
in  that  spiritual  body  which  God  will  prepare  for  the 
new-raised  saints.  If  eyes  and  ears  shall  belong  to 
ihat  glorified  body,  those  sensitive  powers  shall  be 

N  2 


C78  NO  KIGHT  IN   IIEAVLK.  DISCOURSE  VIL 

nobly  enlarged,  and  made  more  delightfully  suscep-^ 
tive  of  richer  shares  of  knowledge  and  joy. 

Or  what  if  we  sliall  have  that  body  furnished  with 
such  unknown  mediums,  or  organs  of  sensation,  as 
shalKmake  ligbt  and  sound,  such  as  we  here  partake 
of,  unnecessary  to  us  ?  These  organs  shall  certainly 
be  such,  as  shall  transcend  all  the  advantages  that  we 
receive  in  this  present  state  from  sounds  or  sun- 
beams. There  shall  be  no  disconsolate  darkness, 
nor  any  tiresome  silence  there.  There  shall  be  no 
night  to  interrupt  the  business  or  pleasures  of  that 
everlasting  day. 

Or  what  if  the  whole  body  shall  be  endued  all  over 
with  the  senses  oi see'ijig  and  hearing  >  What  if  these 
sort  of  sensationjv;shall  be  diffused  throughout  all  that 
immortal  body,  ^'^  feeling  is  diffused  through  all  our 
present  mortal  flesh  ?  What  if  God  himself  shall  in 
a  more  illustrious  manner  irradiate  all  the  powers  of 
the  body  and  spirit,  and  communicate  the  light  of 
knowledge,  holiness,  and  joy,  in  a  superior  manner 
to  what  we  can  now  conceive  or  imagine  ?  This  is 
certain,  that  darkness  in  every  sense,  with  all  the  in- 
conveniencies  and  unhappy  consequences  of  it,  is  and 
must  be  for  ever  banished  from  the  heavenly  state. 
*  There  is  no  night  there.' 

When  our  Lord  Jesus  Christs  hall  have  ** given  up 
his"  mediatorial  kingdom  to  the  Father,  ''and  have" 
presented  all  his  saints  spotless  and  without  blemish 
before  his  throne,  it  is  hard  for  us  mortals  in  the 
present  state,  to  say  how  far  he  shall  be  the  everlast- 
ine  medium  of  the  communication   of  divine  bless- 


DISCOURSE  VII,  KO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  270 

ings  to  the  happy  inhabitants  on  high.  Yet  when 
we  consider  that  the  saints  and  angels,  and  the  whole 
happy  creation,  are  gathered  together  in  him  as  their 
head,^  it  is  certain  they  shall  all  be  accounted  in 
some  sense  *  his  members;'  and  it  is  highly  proba- 
ble he,  as  their  head,  shall  be  for  ever  active  in  com* 
municaiing  and  diffusing  the  unknown,  blessings  of 
that  world,  amongst  all  the  inhabitants  of  it  who  are 
gathered  and  united  in  him. 

I  come  in  the  last  place,  to  make  a  few  remarks 
upon  the  foregoing  discourse,  and  in  order  to  ren- 
der them  more  effectual  for  our  spiritual  advantage, 
I  shall  consider  the  words  of  my  text,  <  there  shall 
be  no  night  there,'  in  their  metaphorical  or  spiritu- 
al meaning,  as  well  as  in  their  literal  sense.  There 
is  no  night  of  ignorance  or  error  in  the  mind,  no 
night  of  guilt  or  of  sorrow  in  the  soul:  But  the  bless- 
ed above  shall  dwell  surrounded  with  the  light  of 
divine  knowledge,  they  shall  walk  in  the  light  of  holi- 
ness, and  they  shall  be  for  ever  filled  with  the  light 
of  consolation  and  joy,  as  I  have  explained  it  at  the 
beginning  of  this  discourse. 

The  1st  remark  then  is  this,  *  When  heaven, 
earth  and  hell,  are  compared  together,  with  relation 
to  light  and  darkness,  or  night  and  day,'  we  then  see 
them  in  their  proper  distinctions  and  aspects.  Eve- 
ry thing  is  set  in  its  most  distinguishing  situation 
and  appearance,  when  it  is  compared  with  thing*? 
which  are  most  opposite. 

*  The  Greek  word  a(,at;ttpx>.»<or.',  used  in  Eph.  i.  10.  favours  this  meaning-, 
-and  perhaps  Col.  i.  20-  includes  ihe  same  thing. 


280  ^O  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.         DISCOURSE  VII. 

The  earth  on  which  we  dwell  during  this  state  of 
trial,  has  neither  all  day  nor  all  nii^ht  belonging  to  it, 
but  sometime^  light  appears,  and  again  darkness, 
whether  in  a  natural  or  a  spiritual  sense. 

Though  there  be  long  seasons  of  darkness  in  the 
winter,  and  darkness  in  the  summer  also,  in  its  con- 
stant returns,  divides  one  day  from  another,  yet  the 
God  of  nature  has  given  us  a  Uv^qv  portion  of  light 
than  there  is  of  darkness,  throughout  the  whole  globe 
of  the  earth  :  And  this  benefit  we  receive  by  the  re- 
maining  beams  of  the  sun  after  its  setting,  and  by  the 
assistance  of  the  moon  and  the  stars  of  heaven.  Blcs* 
sed  be  God  for  the  moon  and  stars,  as  well  as  for  the 
sun-beams  and  the  brightness  of  noon.  Blessed  be 
God  for  all  the  lights  of  nature,  but  we  still  bless  him 
more  for  the  light  of  the  gospel,  and  for  any  rays 
from  heaven,  any  beams  of  the  sun  of  righteousness, 
which  diffuse  in  low^er  measures  knowledge,  and  holi- 
ness, and  comfort,  among  the  inhabitants  of  this  our 
world.  God  is  here  manifesting  his. love  and  grace 
in  such  proportions  as  he  thinks  proper.  Some  beams 
of  the  heavenly  world  break  out  upon  us  here  in  this 
dark  region.  God  the  spring  of  all  our  light,  and  the 
L^mb  of  God  by  his  Spirit  communicates  sufficient 
light  to  us,  to  guide  us  on  in  our  way  to  that  heaven- 
ly country. 

In  hcUihtrt  is  all  night  and  darkness,  thick  dark- 
ness in  every  sense,  for  the  God  of  glory  is  absent 
there  as  to  any  manifestations  of  his  face  and  favour. 
And  therefore  it  is  often  called  '*  utter  darkness, 
where  there  is  weeping,  and  wailing,  and  gnashing 


discourse:  vn.         no  night  in  heaven.  281 

of  teeth."  There  is  no  holiness,  there  is  no  comfort, 
there  are  no  benefits  of  the  creation,  no  blessings  of 
grace ;  all  are  forfeited  and  gone  for  ever.  It  is 
everlasting  night  and  blackness  of  darkness  in  that 
Avorld  :  Horror  of  soul,  without  i\  beam  of  refresh- 
ment from  the  fLice  of  God  or  the  Lamb  for  ever. 
The  de\ils  are  now  '* reserved  in  everlasting  chains 
under  darkness  to  the  judgment  of  the  great  day," 
Jude  6.  But  then  their  confinement  shall  be  closer, 
and  their  darkness,  guilt,  and  sorrow,  shall  be  more 
overwhelming.  Is  it  lawful  for  me  in  this  place,  to 
mention  the  description  which  Milton  our  English 
poet  gives  of  their  wretched  habitation  ? 

'  A  dungeon  horrible  on  all  sides  round, 
As  one  i^ieat  furnace  flarn'd ;  yet  from  those  flames 
>^o  light,   but  rather  darkness  visible 
Serv'd  only  to  discover  sights  of  woe  ; 
Regions  of  sorrou ,  doleful  shades,  where  peace 
And  rest  can  never  dwell ;  hope  never  comes, 
That  comes  to  all  :   But  torture  without  end 
Still  urges,  and  a  fiery  deluge  fed 
With  ever  burning  sulphur  unconsum'd. 
Such  place  eternal  justice  had  prepar'd 
For  rebel-angels;  here  their  pris'n  ordain'd 
In  utter  darkness,  and  their  portion  set 
As  far  remov'd  from  God  and  light  of  heaven 
As  from  the  centre  thrice  to  th'  utmost  pole.' 

To  this  the  poet  adds, 
*  O  how  unlike  the  place  from  whence  they  fell  !' 


282  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  DIS<:-OiniSE  Vli* 

How  unlike  to  that  heaven  which  I  have  been  de- 
s'cribin^,  in  which  there  is  no  night  ;  and  all  the  evils 
of  darkness  in  every  sense  are  for  ever  secluded  from 
that  happy  region,  where  knowledge,  hoUness,  and 
joy,  are  all  inseparable  and  immortal. 

2.  Remark.      *  What  light  of  every  kind  we  arc 
made  partakers  of  here  on  earth,  let  us  use  it  wiih 
lioly  thankfulness,  with  zeal  and  religious  improve- 
ment.'    Hereby  we  may  be  assisted  and  animated  to 
travel  on,  through  the  mingled  stages  and  scenes  of 
light  and  darkness,  in  this  world,  till   we  arrive  at 
the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  perfect  light.     It  is  a 
glorious  blessing  to  this  dark  world,  that  the  light 
of  Christianity  is  added  to  the  light  of  Judaism,  and 
the  light  of  nature  ;   and  that  the  law  of  Moses,  and 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  are  set  before  us  in  this  na- 
tion in  their  distinct  views,  on  purpose  to  make  our 
-^ay  to  happiness  more  evident  and  easy.     May  the 
snng  of  Moses,  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb,  be  sung 
in  our  land  !   But  let  us  never  rest  satisfied,  till  the 
light  that  is  let  into  our  minds  become  a  spring  of 
divine  life  within  us,  a  life  of  knowledge,  holiness, 
and  comfort.  Let  us  not  be  found  amongst  the  num- 
ber of  those,  who,   when    *  light  is  come  into  the 
world,  love  darkness  rather  than  light,'  lest  we  fall 
under  their  condemnation.  Johniii.  19.  Let  us  never 
re&t  till  we  see  the  evidences  of  the  children  of  God 
wiought  in  us  with  powder;   till  the    'day-spring  that 
]i^  visited  us  from  on  high'    has   entered  into  our 
spirits,  and  refined  and  moulded  them  into  the  di- 
vitie  image;  till  we  who  are  by  nature  all  *  darkness 
are  made  light  in  the  Lord,' 


DISCOURSE   V'll.  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  283 

O  vvliat  a  blessed  change  does  the  convertin<^ 
grace  of  Christ  make  in  the  soul  of  a  son  or  daugh- 
ter of  Adam?  It  is  like  the  beauty  and  pleasure 
which  the  rising  morning  diffuses  over  the  face  of 
the  earth,  after  a  night  of  storm  and  darkness:  It 
is  so  much  of  heaven  let  into  all  the  chambers  of 
the  soul  :  It  is  then  only  that  we  begin  to  know 
ourselves  aright,  and  know  God  in  his  most  awful 
and  most  lovely  manifestations  :  It  is  in  this  light 
we  see  the  hateful  evil  of  every  sin,  the  beauty  of 
holiness,  the  worth  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  of 
his  salvation.  It  is  a  liy:ht  that  carries  divine  heat 
and  life  with  it;  it  renews  all  the  powers  of  the 
spirit,  and  introduces  holiness,  hope  and  joy,  in  the 
room  of  folly  and  guilt,  sin,  darkness  and  sorrow. 

3.  Remark.  If  God  has  wrought  this  sacred  and 
divine  change  in  our  souls,  if  we  are  made  the 
children  of  light,  or  if  we  profess  to  have  felt  this 
change,  and  hope  for  an  interest  in  this  bright  in- 
heritance of  the  saints,  *  let  us  put  away  all  the  works 
of  darkness  with  hatred  and  detestation.'  **  Let  us 
walk  in  the  light"  of  truth  and  holiness,  Eph.  v.  8. 
*'  Ye  were  once  darkness,  but  are  now  light  in  th.e 
Lord  ;  walk  as  children  of  light."  And  the  Apostle 
repeats  his  exhortation  to  the  Thessalonians  in  I 
Kpist.  5th  chapter  and  the  5th  verse.  '  Ye  are  all 
children  of  the  light  and  of  the  day,  and  not  the  so??s 
of  night  or  darkness  ;  therefore  let  us  not  sleep  as  do 
others,  but  let  us  watch  and  be  sober;  [)utiing  on 
the  breast-plate  of  faith  and  love,  and  for  an  hel'.net 
the  hope  of  salvation,  for  God  hath  not  ;ip[)oinied  us 


284  NO   NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.         DISCOURSE    VII* 

to  wrath,  but  to  obtain  salvation  by  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.^ 

To  animate  every  Christian  to  this  holy  care  and 
watchfulness,  let  us  tliink  w  hat  a  terrible  disappoint- 
ment it  will  be,  after  we  have  made  a  bright  prcfes- 
sion  of  Christianity  in  our  lives,  to  lie  down  in  death 
in  a  state  of  sin  and  guilt,  and  to  awake  in  the  world 
of  spirits,  in  the  midst  of  the  groans  and  agonies  of 
hell,  surrounded  and  covered  with  everlasting  dark- 
ness. Let  our  public  profession  be  as  illustrious  and 
bright  as  it  will,  yet  if  we  indulge  works  of  darkness 
in  secret,  night  and  darkness  will  be  our  eternal  por- 
tion, with  the  anguish  of  conscience,  and  the  terrors 
of  the  Almighty,  without  one  glimpse  of  hope  or  re- 
lief. It  is  only  those  who  walk  in  the  light  of  holi- 
ness here,  who  can  be  lit  to  dwell  in  the  prescr>ce  of 
a  God  of  holiness  hereafter.  '  Light  is  sown  only  for 
the  righteous,  and  joy  for  the  upright  in  heart ;'  and 
it  shall  break  out  one  day  from  amongst  the  clods, 
a  glorious  harvest ;  but  only  the  sons  and  the  daugh- 
ters of  light  shall  taste  of  the  blessed  fruits  of  it. 

Think  again  with  yourselves  when  you  are  tempt- 
ed to  sin  and  folly,  What  if  I  should  be  cut  off  on 
a  sudden,  practising  the  works  of  darkness,  and  my 
soul  be  summoned  into  the  eternal  world,  covered 
with  guilt  and  defilement  ?  Shall  I  then  be  fit  for  the 
world  of  light  ?  Will  the  God  of  light  ever  receive 
me  to  his  dwelling  ?  Do  I  not  hereby  render  myself 
unfit  company  for  the  angels  of  light  ?  and  what  if  I 
sliould  be  sent  down  to  dwell  among  the  spirits  of 


DISCOURSE   VII.  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  2^5 

darkness,  since  I  have  imitated  their  sinful  manners, 
and  obeyed  their  cursed  influences  ? 

O  may  such  thoughts  as  these  dwell  upon  our 
spirits  with  an  awful  solemnity,  and  be  a  perpetual 
guard  against  defiling  our  garments  with  any  iniqui» 
ty,  lest  our  Lord  should  come  and  find  us  thus  pol- 
luted. Let  us  walk  onwards  in  the  paths  of  light, 
which  are  discovered  to  us  in  the  word  of  God,  and 
which  are  illustrated  by  his  holy  ordinances,  to  guide 
us  through  the  clouds  and  shades  which  attend  us 
in  this  wilderness,  till  our  Lord  Jesus  shall  come 
with  all  his  surrounding  glories,  and  take  us  to  the 
full. possession  of  the  inheritance  in  light. 

4.  Remark.  '  Under  our  darkest  nights,  our  most 
unactive  and  heavy  hours,  our  most  uncomfortable 
seasons  here  on  earth,  let  us  remember  we  are  tra- 
velling to  a  world  of  light  and  joy.'  If  we  happen 
to  lie  awake  in  midnight  darkness,  and  count  the 
tedious  hours  one  after  another,  in  a  mournful  suc- 
cession, under  any  of  the  maladies  of  nature,  or  the 
sorrows  of  this  life,  let  us  comfort  ourselves  that  we 
are  not  shut  up  in  eternal  night  and  darkness  with- 
out  hope,  but  we  are  still  making  our  way  towards 
that  country  where  there  is  no  night,  where  there  is 
neither  sin  nor  pain,  malady  nor  sorrow. 

What  if  the  blessed  God  is  pleased  to  try  us,  by 
the  with- holding  of  light  from  our  eyes  for  a  sea- 
son ?  What  if  we  are  called  to  seek  our  duty  iu 
dark  providences,  or  are  perplexed  in  deep  and  dif- 
ficult controversies  wherein  we  cannot  find  the  light 
of  truth  ^     Vv^hat  if  we  *  sit  in  darkness'  and  mourn- 

o   2 


255  NO  NIGH  I    IN  HEAVEN.  DISCOURSE  VH. 

ing,  *  and  see  no  light,'  and  the  beams  of  divine  con- 
solation are  cut  off,  let  us  still  '  trust  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  and  stay  ourselves  upon  our  God,'  espe- 
cially as  he  manifests  himself  in  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain,  the  blessed  medium  of  his  mercy,  Isa.  1.  10. 
Let  us  learn  to  say  with  the  Prophet  Micah  in  the 
spirit  of  faith,  Micah  vii.  8,  9.  *'  When  I  sit  in 
darkness  the  Lord  will  be  a  light  unto  me  ;  he  will 
bring  me  forth  to  the  light,  and  I  shall  behold  his 
righieousness." 

Blessed  be  God  that  the  night  of  ignorance,  grief, 
or  affliction,  which  attends  us  in  this  world,  is  not 
everlasting  night.  Heaven  and  glory  are  at  hafid  ; 
wait  and  watch  for  the  morning  star,  for  Jesus  and 
the  resurrection.  Roll  on  apace  in  your  appointed 
course  ye  suns  and  moons,  and  all  ye  twinkling  en- 
lightners  of  the  sky,  carry  on  the  changing  seasons, 
of  light  and  darkness  in  this  lower  world  with  your 
utmost  speed,  till  you  have  finished  all  my  appoin- 
led  months  of  continuance  here.  The  light  of  faith 
shews  me  the  dawning  of  that  glorious  day,  which 
shall  finish  all  my  nights  and  darknesses  for  ever. 
Make  haste,  O  delightful  morning,  and  delay  not  my^ 
hopes.  Let  me  hasten,  let  me  arrive  at  that  blessed* 
inlieritance,  those  mansions  of  paradise,  where  night 
is  never  known,  but  one  eternal  day  shall  make  our 
knowledge,  our  holiness,  and  our  joy,  eternal. 
J  men. 


DISCOURSE  VIII. 

\  SOUL  PR  jE  PA  RED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

.  2  Cor.  v.  5. 

No\v  be  that  hath  vor ought  us  for  the  selfsame  thing, 

is  God, 

WHEN  this  Apostle  designs  to  entertain  our  hope 
in  the  noblest  manner,  and  raise  our  faixh  to  its 
highest  joys,  he  generally  calls  our  thoughts  far  away 
from  all  present  and  visible  things,  and  sends  them 
forward  to  the  great  and  glorious  day  of  the  resurrec- 
tion :  He  points  our  meditations  to  take  a  distant 
prospect  of  the  final  and  complete  happiness  of  the 
saints  in  Heaven,  when  their  bodies  shall  be  raised 
shining  and  immortal;  whereas  it  is  but  seldom  that 
he  takes  notice  of  the  Heaven  of  separate  souls,  or 
that  part  of  our  future  happiness  which  commences 
at  the  hour  of  death.  But  in  this  chapter  the  holy 
writer  seems  to  keep  both  these  Heavens  in  his  e\-e, 
and  speaks  of  that  blessedness  which  the  spirits  fo 
of  the  just  shall  enjoy  in  the  'presence  of  the  Lord,' 
as  soon  as  *they  are  absent  from  the  body,'  and  yet 
leads  our  souls  onwards  also  to  our  last  and  most 
perfect  state  of  happiness,  which  is  delayed  till  our 
corruptible  bodies  shall  be  raised  from  the  dust,  and 
mortality  shall  l)e  swallowed  up  in  life.  'We  know,' 
saitli  lie  in  llie  lirst  verse  of  this  chapter,    'we  know 


288  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.       DISCOURSE   VILI. 

that  as  soon  as  our  mortal  tabernacle,'  in  which  we 
now  dwell,  «is  dissolved,  we  have  a  building,'  ready 
for  us  *in  the  heavens;'  i.  e.  an  investiture  in  a  glo- 
rious state  of  holiness  and  immortality,  which  waits 
to  receive  our  spirits  when  we  drop  this  dying  flesh  : 
Yet  the  felicities  of  this  paradise,  or  first  heaven, 
shall  receive  an  unspeakable  addition  and  advance- 
ment, when  *  Christ  shall  come  the  second  time,' 
w  ith  all  his  saints,  to  complete  our  salvation. 

But  which  heaven  soever  we  arrive  at,  whether  it 
be  this  of  the  separate  state,  or  that  when  our  bodies 
shall  be  restored,  still  we  must  be  '  WTought  up'  to 
a  proper  fitness  for  it  by  God  himself;  and  as  the 
end  of  this  verse  tells  us,  he  'gives  us  his  own  spirit 
as  an  earnest'   of  these  future  blessings. 

The  observation  which  shall  be  the  subject  of  my 
discourse,  is  this  :  *  Those  who  shall  enjoy  the 
heavenly  blessedness  hereafter,  must  be  prepared 
for  it  here  in  this  world,  by  the  operation  of  the 
blessed  God.' 

Here  we  must  take  notice  in  the  first  place,  that 
since  wc  are  sinful  and  guilty  creatures  in  ourselves, 
and  have  forfeited  all  our  pretences  to  the  favour  of 
God  and  happiness,  we  must  be  restored  to  his  fii- 
vour,  we  must  have  our  sins  forgiven,  we  must  be 
justified  in  his  sight  with  an  everlasting  righteous- 
ness, we  must  be  adopted  as  the  children  of  God, 
and  have  a  right  and  title  given  us  to  the  heavenly 
inheritance,  before  we  can  enter  into  it,  or  possess  it; 
and  this  blessing  is  procured  for  us  by  the  obediciice 
and  death  of  the  Son  of  God.     It  is  in  his  blood  that 


^DISCOURSE  VII  r.       A   SOUL  PREPARED   FOR  HEAVEN.  28\^ 

we  fiiul  an  atonement  for  our  iniquities,  and  we  must 
be  made  heirs  of  glory  by  becoming  the  adopted 
children  of  God,  and  so  'we  are  joint-heirs'  with  his 
Son  Jesus,  and  shall  be  glorified  with  him,  Rom. 
viii.  17. 

And  it  is  by  a  true  and  living  faith  in  the  Son  of 
God,  that  we  become  partakers  of  this  blessing.  God 
has  set  forth  his  Son  Jesus  as  a  propitiation  for 
sinners  through  faith  in  his  blood,  Rom.  iii.  24. 
**  We  are  justified  by  faith"  in  his  blood,  and  *'  have 
hope  of  eternal  life  through  him,"  Rom.  v.  We  also 
receive  our  adoption,  and  *'  become  the  children  of 
God  through  fliith  in  Christ  Jesus,"  Gal.  iii.  26.  and 
thereby  we  obtain  a  title  to  some  mansion  in  our 
Father's  house  in  Heaven,  since  Jesus  our  elder  bro- 
ther, and  our  forerunner,  is  admitted  into  it  to  take 
a  place  there  in  our  name.  This  is  a  very  consider- 
able part  of  our  necessary  preparation  for  the  heaven- 
ly world,  that  we  should  be  believers  in  the  Son  of 
God,  and  united  to  him  by  a  living  faith;  and  this 
fliith  also  is  Mhe  gift  of  God,'  Eph.  ii.  8.  We 
are  wrought  up  to  it  by  his  grace. 

But  as  this  does  not  seem  to  be  the  chief  thing 
designed  in  the  words  of  my  text,  I  shall  pass  it  over 
thus  briefly,  and  apply  myself  to  consider  what  that 
further  fitness  or  preparation  for  heaven  intends,  for 
which  we  are  said  here  *  to  be  wrought  up  by  God' 
himself.  The  former  preparation  for  heaven,  may 
rather  be  said  to  be  a  *  relative  change,'  which  is  in- 
cluded in  our  pardon  or  justification,  and  alters  our 
state   from   the   CQudemnation  of  hell,  to  the  favour 


290  A  SOUL    PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.       DISCOURSE  Vlll. 

and  love  of  God  :  But  this  latter  preparation  im- 
plies a  real  chano;e  of  our  nature  by  sanctifying 
grace,  and  gives  us  a  temper  of  soul  suited  to  the 
business  and  blessedness  of  the  heavenly  world. 
This  is  the  *  preparation'  which  my  text  speaks  of. 

The  great  enquiry  therefore  at  present  is,  *  What 
are  those  steps,  or  gradual  operations,  by  which  the 
blessed  God  works  us  up  to  this  fitness  for  heaven  ?' 

And  here  I  shall  not  run  over  all  the  parts  and  li- 
neaments of  the  new  creature,  which  is  formed  by 
regeneration,  nor  the  particular  operations  of  con- 
verting y-race,  whereby  we  are  convinced  of  sin,  and 
led  to  faith  and  repentance,  and  new  obedience,  though 
these  are  all  necessary  to  this  end  ;  but  I  shall  con- 
fine myself  only  to  those  things  which  have  a  more 
immediate  reference  to  the  heavenly  blessedness; 
and  they  are  such  as  follow  : 

1.  'God  w^orks  us  up  to  a  preparation  for  the  hea- 
venly felicity,  by  establishing  and  confirming  our  be- 
lief, that  ther.'^  is  a  heaven  provided  for  the  saints, 
and  by  giving  us  some  clearer  acquaintance  with  the 
nature,  the  business,  and  the  blessedness  of  this  hea- 
ven.' All  this  is  done  by  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and 
by  the  secret  operation  of  the  blessed  God,  teaching 
us  to  understand  his  gospel. 

Alas  !  how  ignorant  were  the  heathen  sages  about 
anyfutiire  state  for  the  righteous?  How  bewildered 
were  the  best  of  them  in  all  their  imaginations  ?  how 
vain  were  all  their  reasonings  upon  this  subject,  and 
how  liule  saiisfaction  could  they  give  to  an  honest 
enquirer,  wheihcr  there  was  any  reward  provided  for 


DISCOURSE  VIII.       A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  IIEAVI-N.  20i 

good  men  beyond  this  life  ?  The  light  of  nature  was 
their  guide  ;  and  those  in  whom  this  feeble  taper 
burnt  with  the  fiiirest  lustre,  were  still  left  in  great 
darkness  about  futurity.  As  the  Gentile  philoso- 
phers Were  left  in  great  uncertainties  whether  there 
was  any  heaven  or  no,  so  were  their  conceptions  of 
heavenly  things  very  absurd  and  ridiculous  ;  and 
their  various  fancies  about  the  nature  and  enjoyments 
of  it,  were  all  impertinence. 

And  how  little  knowledge  had  the  Patriarchs  them- 
selves, if  we  may  judge  of  their  knowledge  by  the 
five  books  of  Moses,  which  give  no  plain  and  ex- 
press promise  of  future  happiness  in  another  world, 
neither  to  x\bel  nor  Noah,  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  Ja- 
cob, or  to  Moses  himself?  And  were  it  not  fo;.* 
some  expressions  in  the"New  Testament,  and  by  the 
xith  chapter  to  the  Hebrews,  where  we  are  told,  that 
these  good  men  'sought  a  heavenly  country,'  and 
hoped  for  happiness  in  a  future  and  invisible  state, 
we  should  sometimes  be  ready  to  doubt  whether  they 
knew  almost  any  thing  of  the  future  resurrection  and 
glory. 

That  great  and  excellent  man  Job  had  one  or  two 
lucid  intervals  of  peculiar  brightness,  which  shone 
upon  him  fr4)m  heaven,  in  tlie  midst  of  his  distresses, 
and  raised  him  above  and  beyond  the  common  level 
of  the  dispensation  lie  lived  in ;  yet,  in  the  main,  when 
lie  describes  the  state  of  the  dead,  how  desolate  and 
dolesome  is  his  language,  and  what  heavy  darkness 
hangs  upon  his  hope  !  See  his  expression.  Job  x. 
21,  2-1,     ''  Let  me  alone  that  I  may  take  coudurt  a 


292  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.       DISCOURSE  VIII* 

little,  before  I  go  whence  I  shiill  not  return,  even  to 
the  land  of  darkness,  and  the  shadow  of  death,  a 
land  of  darkness  as  darkness  itself,  and  of  the  sha- 
dow of  death  without  any  order,  and  where  the  light 
is  as  darkness."  Mark  how  this  good  man  heaps 
one  darkness  upon  another,  and  makes  so  formida- 
ble a  gloom  as  was  hardly  to  be  dispelled  by  the 
common  notices  given  to  men  in  that  age. 

And  if  we  look  into  the  Jewish  writings  in  and  af- 
ter the  days  of  Moses,  we  find  the  men  of  righteous- 
ness frequently  entertained  with  promises  of  corn, 
and  wine,  ard  oil,  and  other  blessings  of  sense  ;  and 
few  there  were  amongst  them  who  saw  clearly,  and 
firmly  believed  the  heavenly  inheritance  through  the 
types,  and  shadows,  and  figures  of  Canaan,  the  pro- 
mised land,  which  flowed  with  milk  and  honey. 

It  is  granted  there  are  some  hints  and  discoveries 
of  a  blessedness  beyond  the  grave  in  the  writings  of 
David,  Isaiah,  Daniel,  and  some  of  the  Prophets: 
But  the  brightest  of  these  notices  fall  far  short  of 
what  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  set  be- 
before  us.  The  Son  of  God  who  came  down  from 
heaven,  where  he  had  lived  from  before  the  crea- 
tion of  this  world,  has  revealed  to  us  infinitely  more 
of  the  invisible  state  than  all  that  went  before  him  : 
He  tell  us  of  the  '  pure  in  heart  enjoying  the  sight 
of  God,'  and  conversing  with  'Abraham,  Isaac 
and  Jacob,'  the  ancient  saints  :  He  assures  us  there 
*  are  many  mansions  in  his  Father's  house,'  and 
that  he  '  went  to  ])repare  a  place'  there  for  his  fol- 
lowers.    "  I  tell  vou"  savs  he,  John  viii.  38.   ''  I 


J)ISC0UIISE  VIII.       A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  293 

tell  you  the  thino-s  which  I  have  seen  with  my  Fa- 
ther.'' And  when  he  came  again  from  the  dead,  he 
made  it  appear  to  his  disciples  that  he  had  *'  I  wrought 
life  and  immortality  to  li^ht  by  his  gospel,','  2  Tim. 
i.    10. 

It  is  only  the   New  Testament  that  p^ives  us  so 
bright  and  satisfiictory  an  account  what  our  future 
heaven  is  :    The  •  righteous  shall  be  with  God,'  shall 
beholvl  him,  shall  dwell  with  Christ,  and  see  his  glo- 
ry ;   they  shall  worship  day  and  night  in  his  >eniple, 
and  sing  the  praises  of  him  tliat  sits  upon  the  throne, 
and  of  the  Lamb  that  has  redeemed  them  by   his 
blood  ;   there  shall  be  no  sin,   no  sorrow,   no  death, 
nor  any  more  pain ;     they  shall   have   such  satisfac- 
tions and  employments  as  are  worthy  of  a  rational  na- 
ture, and  a  soul   refined  from  sense  and  sin.     St. 
Paul,  one  of  his  disciples,  was  transported  into  the 
third  heaven  before  he  died,  and  there  learnt  "  un- 
speakable things,"  2  Cor.  xii.  2,  4.  and  he,  together 
with  the  other  Apostles,  have  published  the  glories 
of  that  future  world  which  they   learnt  from  Jesus 
their  Lord,  and  confirmed  these  thingb  to  our  faith 
by  prophecies  and  miracles  without  number. 

Now  the  blessed  God  himself  prepares  his  own 
people  for  this  heaven  of  happiness,  by  giving  them  a 
full  conviction  and  assurance  of  the  truth  of  all  these 
divine  discoveries  ;  he  impresses  them  upon  their 
heart  with  power,  and  makes  them  attend  to  those 
divine  impressions.  Every  true  Christian  has  learnt 
to  say  within  himself,  *  This  celestial  blessedness 
is  no  dream,  is  no   painted  vision,  no  gay  scene  of 

V  2 


294  A  SOUL  PREPARED  TOR  HEAVEN.      DISCOURSE  VIII. 

flattering  fancy,  nor  is  it  a  matter  of  doubtful  dis* 
pute,  or  of  uncertain  opinion.  I  am  assured  of  it 
from  the  words  of  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  and  from 
his  blessed  followers,  whom  he  authorised  to  teach 
me  the  things  of  a  future  world.'  He  that  is  taught 
of  God  beholds  these  glories  in  the  light  of  a  divine 
failh,  which  is  to  him  the  "  substance  of  things 
hoped  for,  and  the  evidence  of  things  not  yet  seen,'' 
Heb.  xi.   1. 

2.  God  works  up  the  souls  of  his  people  to  a  pre- 
paration  for  the  heavenly  state,  by  '  purifying  them 
from  every  defilement  that  might  unfit  them  for  the 
blessedness  of  heaven.'  The  removal  of  the  guilt  of  sin 
by  his  pardoning  mercy  I  have  mentioned  before,  as 
necessary  to  our  entrance  into  the  heavenly  state  ; 
and  we  must  walk  through  this  world,  this  defiling 
world  with  all  holy  watchfulness,  lest  our  soul  be  ble- 
mished with  new  pollutions,  lest  new  guilt  come  up- 
on  our  consciences,  and  the  thoughts  of  appearance 
before  God  be  terrible  to  us.  That  soul  is  very  much 
unfit  for  an  entrance  into  the  presence  of  a  holy  God, 
who  is  ever  plunging  itself  into  new  circumstances  of 
guilt,  by  a  careless  and  unholy  conversation.  To 
stand  upon  the  borders  of  life,  and  the  very  edge  of 
eternity,  will  be  dreadful  to  those  who  have  given 
themselves  a  loose  to  criminal  pleasures,  and  indul- 
ged their  irregular  appetites  and  passions. 

But  it  is  not  only  a  conscience  purged  from  the 
guilt  of  sin  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  but  a  soul  wash- 
ed also  from  the  defiling  power  and  taint  of  sin,  by 
the  sanctifying  spirit  that  is  necessary  to  make  us  meet 


DISCOURSE  Vlir.      A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  295 

for  the  heavenly  inheritance.  This  is  that  purifica- 
tion which  I  now  chiefly  intend,  Matth.  v.  8.  *'  Bles- 
sed are  the  pure  in  heart  for  they  shall  see  God.''  No- 
thing- that  defileth  must  enter  into  the  city  of  God 
on  high,  nor  whosoever  maketh  a  lye  or  loveth  it, 
Rev.  xxi.  27.  No  injustice,  no  falsehood,  no  j^uile 
or  deceit  can  be  admitted  within  those  gates  :  They 
must  be  without  guile  both  in  their  heart  and  tongue, 
if  they  will  ''  stand  before  the  throne  of  God,"  Rev. 
xiv.  5.  sincerity  and  truth  of  soul,  with  all  the  beau- 
ties of  an  upright  heart  and  character,  are  necessa- 
ry to  prepare  an  inhabitant  for  that  blessed  state. 
There  must  be  no  envy,  no  wrath  or  malice,  no  re- 
venge; nor  will  any  of  the  angry  principles  that  dwell 
in  our  flesh  and  blood,  or  that  inflame  and  disturb 
the  mind,  be  found  in  those  regions  of  peace  and 
love.  There  must  be  no  pride  or  ambition,  no  self« 
exaltation  and  vanity  that  can  dw^ell  in  heaven,  for  it 
cast  out  the  angels  of  glorious  degree,  when  they 
would  exalt  themselves  above  their  own  station. 
*  Pride  was  the  condemnation  of  the  devil,'  and  it 
must  not  dwell  in  a  human  heart  that  ever  liopes  for 
a  heavenly  dwelling-place,  1  Tim.  iii.  6.  and  Jude 
ver.  6.  There  must  be  no  sensual  and  intemperate 
creature  there,  no  covetous  selfishness,  no  irregular 
passions,  no  narrowness  of  soul,  no  uncharitable  and 
party  spirit  will  ever  be  found  in  that  country  of  dif- 
fusive love  and  joy. 

And  since  the  best  of  Christians  have  had  the  seeds 
of  many  of  these  inicpiities  in  their  hearts,  and  they 
have  made  a  painful  complaint  of  these  rising  corrup- 


295  A  SOUL  PREPARED   FOR  HEAVEN.    DISCOURSE    VII  f. 

tions  of  nature  upon  many  occasions,  these  iniqui- 
ties must  be  mortified  and  slain  by  the  work  of  the 
Spirit  of  G  >d  within  us,  if  ever  we  ourselves  would 
live  the  divine  life  of  heaven,  Rf)m.  viii.  13.  There 
is  a  p:reat  de.il  of  this  purifying  work  to  be  done  in  the 
souls  of  all  of  us,  before  we  can  be  prepared  for  the 
heavenly  world,  and  though  we  cannot  arrive  at  per- 
fection here,  yet  we  must  be  wrought  up  to  a  tem- 
per in  some  measure  fit  to  enter  into  that  blessed- 
ness :  And  God  is  training  his  people  up  for  this  pur- 
pose all  the  days  of  their  travels  through  this  desert 
world.  Happy  souls,  who  feel  themselves  more  and 
more  released  from  the  bonds  of  these  iniquities,  day 
by  day,  and  thereby  feel  within  themselves  the  grow- 
ing evidences  of  a  joyful  hope  ! 

3.  God  d')es  not  only  purify  us  from  every  sin  in 
order  to  prepare  us  for  heaven,  but  '  he  is  ever  loose- 
nins:  and  weaning:  our  hearts  from  all  those  lawful 
things  in  this  life,  which  are  not  to  be  enjoyed  in 
heaven.'  Oar  sensual  appetites,  and  our  carnal  de- 
sires, so  far  as  they  are  natural,  though  not  sinful, 
must  die  before  we  can  enter  into  eternal  life.  *  Flesh 
and  blf'od  ciinnot  inherit'  that  divine,  incorruptible, 
and  refined  happiness.  Riches  and  treasures  of  gold 
and  silver  virhich  the  'rust  can  corrupt,  and  which 
thieves  can  break  thrriugh  and  steal,'  are  not  provi- 
ded for  the  hea\enly  state:  They  are  all  of  the  earth- 
ly kind,  and  too  mean  for  the  relish  of  a  heavenly 
spi  it.  Aith :;ug]i  a  Christian  may  possess  many  of 
thtse  things  in  the  present  life,  yet  his  affections 
must  be  divested  of  them,  and  his  soul  divided  from 


discoursl:  viii.     a  soul  prepared  for  heaven.  297 

them,  if  he  would  be  a  saint  indeed,  and  ever  ready 
for  the  purer  blessings  of  paradise.  The  businesses, 
the  cares  and  the  concerns  of  this  secular  life,  are 
ready  to  drink  up  our  spirits  too  much  while  ue  are 
here  ;  we  are  too  prone  to  mingle  our  very  souls  wih 
them,  and  therel)y  i^row  unfit  for  heavenly  felicities: 
And  therefore  it  is  that  our  Saviour  has  warned  us, 
Luke  xxi.  34.  **  Let  not  your  hearts  be  overcharged 
with  the  cares  of  this  world,"  any  more  dian  *'  with 
surfeiting  and  drunkenness,"  if  you  would  be  always 
ready  for  your  flight  to  a  better  state,  and  meet  the 
summons  of  your  Lord  to  paradise. 

There  are  also  many  curious  speculations  and  de- 
lightful amusements  which  may  lawfully  entertain  us 
while  we  are  here  ;   there  are   sports  and  recreations 
which  may  divert  the  fie-.h  or   the  mind   in  a  lawful 
manner,  whilst  we  dwell  in  tabernacles  of  flesh  and 
blood,  and  are  encompassed  with  mortal  things  :  But 
the  soul  that  is  wrought  up  for  heaven  must  arise  to  an 
holy  indifference  to  all  the  entertainments  of  flesh  and 
sense,  and  time,  if  it  would  put  on  the  appearance  of 
an  heavenly  inhabitant.   Christians  that  would  be  ever 
ready  for  the  glories  of  a  better  world  must  be  such 
in  some  measure  as   the  Apostle   describes,    1  Cor. 
vii.  30.  &c.    They  must  *  rejoice'  with  such  modera- 
tion in  their  dearest  comforts  of  life  '  as  though  they 
rejoiced  not,*  they  must  weep  and  mourn  for  the  loss 
of  theai   with   such  a    divine   self-government     '  as 
though  they  wept  not,'    they    must    *  buy  as  though 
they  possessed  not,'    ihey    must    'use  this,  world  as 
not  abusing  it'  in  any  instance,   but  must  look  upon 


£98  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.       DISCOURSE  VIII, 

the  fashions  and  the  scenes  of  it  as  vanishing  things, 
and  have  their  hearts  "  set  on  the  things  that  are 
above  where  Christ  Jesus  is  at  the  Father's  right 
hand,''  Colos.  iii.  1,  2. 

If  you  ask  nie,  what  methods  the  blessed  God  uses 
in  order  to  attain  these  ends,  and  to  purify  and  refine 
the  soul  for  heaven  ?  I  answer,  he  sometimes  does  it 
by  sharp  strokes  of  affliction,  making  our  interests  in 
the  creature  bitter  to  us,  that  we  may  be  weaned 
from  the  relish  of  them,  and  the  power  of  divine 
grace  must  accompany  all  his  weaning  providences, 
or  the  work  will  not  be  done. 

Sometimes  again  he  weans  the  soul  from  the  law- 
ful things  of  this  world,  by  permitting  our  earthly 
enjoyments  to  plunge  us  into  difficulties,  to  seize  the 
heart  with  anxieties,  or  to  surround  us  with  sore 
temptations  :  Then,  when  we  feel  ourselves  falling 
into  sin,  and  bruised  or  defiled  thereby,  we  lose  our 
former  gust  of  pleasure  in  them  ;  and  when  we  are 
recovered  by  divine  grace,  we  are  more  effectually 
weaned  from  such  kind  of  temptations  for  the  future; 
but  it  is  impossible  in  the  compass  of  a  few  lines  to 
describe  the  various  methods  which  the  blessed  God 
uses  to  wean  the  spirit  from  all  its  earthly  attach- 
ments, and  to  work  it  up  to  a  meetness  for  the  inhe- 
ritance of  the  saints  in  light.  Blessed  souls,  who 
are  thus  loosened  and  weaned  from  sensible  things, 
though  it  be  done  by  painful  sufferings  ! 

4.  The  great  God  not  only  weans  our  hearts  from 
those  thiuii^s  that  are  not  to  be  enjoyed  in  heaven, 
but  he  '  i^ives  us  a  holy  appetite  and  relish  suited  t© 


i^ISCOURSE  VIII.       A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN,  299 

the  provisions  of  the  heavenly  world,  and  raises  our 
desires  and  tendencies  of  soul  towards  them.'  By 
nature  our  minds  are  estranged  from  God,  and  fromi 
all  that  is  divine  and  holy  ;  we  have  no  desires  after 
his  love,  nor  delight  in  the  thoughts  of  dwelling  with 
God  :  but  when  divine  grace  has  effectually  touched 
the  heart,  it  ever  tends  upwards  to  that  world  of  holi- 
ness aud  peace.  So  the  needle,  when  it  is  touched 
by  the  load-stoi?e,  ever  points  to  the  beloved  pole- 
star,  and  seems  uneasy  when  it  is  diverted  from  it, 
nor  w^ill  it  rest  till  it  return  thither  again. 

Do  the  sweet  sensations  of  divine  love  make  up  a 
great  part  of  the  heavenly  blessedness  ?  The  soul  is 
in  some  measure  fitted  for  it,  who  can  say  with  Da- 
vid in  Psal.  iv.  7.  '*  Lord  lift  thou  up  upon  me  the 
lii^ht  of  thy  countenance,  and  it  shall  rejoice"  my 
heart  *'  more  than  if  corn  and  wine,  and  oil  al  ound- 
ed,"  and  all  earthly  blessings  were  multiplied  upon 
me ;  for  in  thy  love  is  the  life  of  my  soul,  and  thy 
*'  loving  kindness  is  better  than  life,"  Psal.  Ixiii. 

Is  the  felicitating  presence  of  God  to  be  enjoyed  in 
the  future  world,  and  shall  we  see  his  face  there  with 
unspeakable  delight  ?  Then  those  souls  are  prepared 
for  heaven,  who  can  say  with  the  Psalmist,  Psal.  xliii. 
2.  ^'  When  shall  I  come  and  appear  before  God  ?" 
When  shall  I  have  finished  my  travels  through  this 
wilderness,  that  I  may  arrive  at  my  Father's  house  ? 
*'  This  one  thing  have  I  desired,  that  I  may  dwell  in 
the  house  of  God  for  ever  to  behold  the  beauty  of  the 
Lord  there,"  Psai.  xxvii.  4.  It  is  enough  ior  me 
that  I  shall   '*  behold  thy  fiice  in  righteousness,  and 


800  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.       DISCOURSE  VIIT. 

I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake"  out  of  the  dust 
*'  with  thy  likeness.  With  my  soul  have  I  desired 
thee,  O  Lord,  in  the  night,"  in  the  darkness  of  this 
desert  world  I  have  lono;ed  for  the  light  of  thy  face, 
'*and  with  my  spirit  within  me  I  will  seek  thee 
early.  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee,  neither  is 
there  any  on  earth  that  I  desire  beside  thee,"  Psal. 
xvii.  Isa.  xxvi.  Psal.  Ixxiii.  O  when  shall  the  day 
come  when  there  shall  be  no  more  distance  and  es- 
trangement of  my  heart  from  God,  but  I  shall  feel  all 
my  powers  for  ever  near  him  ? 

Is  the  sweet  society  of  Jesus  to  be  enjoyed  in  the 
heavenly   region,   then  those  are  prepared   for  this 
happiness  who  feel  in  themselves  "  a  desire  to  depart, 
and  to  be  with  Christ,   which  is  far  better"  than  the 
most  pleasureable  scenes  on  earth,  Phil.  i.  23.      *'  I 
am  vvilling"  and  rejoice  in  the  thought  of  it  "  rather 
to  be  absent  from  the   body,    and  to  be  present  with 
the   Lord,"   2   Cor.  v.  8.     I  behold   in   the  light  of 
faith  the  dawning  glory  of  that  day,  when  Jesus  shall 
return  from  heaven,  when  he  shall  revisit  this  wretch- 
ed world,    and  put  an  end  to  these  wretched  scenes 
of  vanity.     "  Behold   he  cometh  in  the  clouds,  and 
every  eye  shall  see  him."     He  comes  into  our  world 
*'  to  them  that  look  for  him,"  not  to  be  made  a  sa- 
crilice  for  sin,  but  to  complete  our  salvation.     I  long 
to  behold  him,  and  I  love  the  thought  of  his  appear- 
ance, Rev.  i.  Heb.  ix.    2  Tim.  iv.  &c. 

Is  there  not  only  a  freedom  from  pain  and  sorrow 
among  the  saints  on  high,  but  is  there  also  an  eter- 
nal release  from  all  the  bonds  of  sin  and  temptation  ^ 


DISCOURSE   VIII.       A  SOUL    PREPARED   FOR   HJTaVEN.  301 

Thenlhat  soul  discovers  a  degree  of  preparation  for 
it,  who  can  say  with  an  holy  groan  and  grief  of  heart, 
*'  O  wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me 
from  this  body  of  sin  and  death?"  Rom.  vii.  *' In 
this  tabernacle  we  groan  indeed  being  burdened,  and 
are  desirous  rather  to  be  clothed  upon  with  our 
house  which  is  from  heaven,"  w  ith  our  holy  state  of 
immortality,  2  Cor.  v. 

5.  That  God  who  has  WTought  these  divine  breath- 
ings in  the  soul  will  one  day  fulfil  them  all,  and  he 
is  working  up  the  Christian  to  a  blessed  meetness  for 
this  felicity,  by  awakening  these  wishes  in  the  very 
centre  of  the  heart.  Happy  heart,  which  feels  these 
holy  aspirations,  these  divine  breathings  ! 

6.  The  blessed  God  is  pleased  to  work  us  up  to  a 
preparation  for  the  heavenly  world  *  by  forn^ing  the 
temper  of  our  minds  into  a  likeness  to  the  inhabit- 
ants of  heaven,'  i.  e.  to  God  himself,  to  Christ  Jesus 
the  Son  of  God,  to  angels  and  saints,  to  the  spirits  of 
the  just  made  perfect.  From  the  children  of  folly  and 
sin  w^e  must  be  transformed  into  the  children  of  God, 
we  must  be  created  anev/  after^iis  image,  and  resem- 
ble our  heavenly  Father,  that  we  may  be  capable  of 
enjoying  his  love,  and  rejoicing  in  his  presence.  We 
inust  be  conformable  to  the  image  of  his  only  begot- 
ten Son  Christ  Jesus,  and  walk  and  live  as  he  did  in 
this  world,  that  we  may  be  prepared  to  dv\ell  with 
him  in  the  world  to  come,  Rom.  viii.  '29.  1  John  iv. 
17.  We  must  have  the  same  temper  and  spirit  oi" 
holiness  \\rought  in  us,  that  we  may  be  iniitaiors  of 
all  the  holy  ones  that  d\Aell  in  heaven,    and  that  \sc 

o  '2 


602  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.       DISCOURSE  VIII. 

may  be  followers  of  the  saints  who  have  been  stran- 
gers and  travellers  in  this  world  in  all  former  a^es. 

How  can  we  hope  to  have  free  conversation  with 
glorious  beings,  wliich  are  so  luilike  to  ourselves,  as 
God,  and  Christ,  and  angels  are  unlike  to  the  sinful 
children  of  men  ?  How  can  we  imagine  ourselves  to 
be  fit  company  for  such  pure  and  perfect  beings, 
beauteous,  and  shining  in  holiness,  while  we  are  de- 
filed with  the  iniquities  of  our  natures,  and  ever  fall- 
ing into  new  guilt  and  pollution  ?  Happy  souls,  who 
can  say  through  grace,  '  I  have  walked  in  the  light 
as  God  is  in  the  .light,'  and  I  trust,  O  Father,  I 
shall  dwell  for  ever  with  thee  there.  I  have  been  a 
follower  of  the  Lamb  through  the  thorny  and  rugged 
passages  of  this  wilderness,  and  I  humbly  hope  I  shall 
sit  with  thee,  O  Jesus,  upon  a  throne  glorious  and 
holy.  1  have  been  a  companion  of  them  who  have 
finished  the  Christian  race,  who  have  fought  the  good 
fight,  and  obtained  the  victory,  and  I  trust  I  shall  have 
a  nanie  and  a  place  amongst  all  you  holy  ones  who 
have  fought  and  overcome.  O  for  a  heart  and 
tongue  furnished  for  such  appeals  to  all  the  blessed 
iijhabitants  of  paradise,  the  possessors  of  those  man- 
sions on  high ! 

7.  The  grace  of  God  works  us  up  to  a  preparation 
for  heaven  *  by  carrying  us  through  those  trials  and 
sufferings,  those  labours  and  conflicts  here  in  this 
life,  which  will  not  only  make  heaven  the  sweeter  to 
us»  but  will  make  it  more  honourable  for  God  him- 
self to  bestow  this  heaven  upon  us.' 


DISCOURSE  VIII.       A   SOUL  PREPARED   FOR  HEAVEN.  303 

When  the  spirits  of  a  creature  are  almost  worn  out 
with  the  toilsome  labours  of  the  day,  what  an  addi- 
tional sweetness  does  he  find  in  rest  and  repose? 
What  an  inward  relish  and  satisfaction  to  the  soul, 
that  has  been  fatigued  under  a  long  and  tedious  war 
with  sins  and  temptations,  to  be  transported  to  such 
a  place  where  sin  cannot  follow  them,  and  temptation 
can  never  reach  them  ?  How  will  it  enhance  all  the 
felicities  of  the  heavenly  world  when  we  enter  into  it, 
to  feel  ourselves  released  from  all  the  trials  and  dis- 
tresses and  sufferings  which  we  have  sustained  in  our 
travels  thithehvards  ?  The  review  of  the  waves  and 
the  storms  wherein  we  had  been  tossed  for  a  long  sea- 
son, and  had  been  almost  shipwrecked  there,  will 
make  the  peaceful  haven  of  eternity,  to  which  we  shall 
arrive,  much  more  agreeable  to  every  one  of  the  suf- 
ferers, 2  Cor.  iv.  17.  **  Our  light  afflictions,  which 
are  but  for  a  moment,  are"  in  this  way  **  working  for 
us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory," 
and  preparing  us  for  the  possession  of  it. 

But  it  should  be  added  also,  that  the  prize  of  life, 
and  the  crown  of  glory,  is  much  more  honourably  be- 
stowed on  those  who  have  been  long  fighting,  run- 
ning, and  labouring  to  obtain  it.  Heaven  will  appear 
as  a  condecent  reward  of  all  the  faithful  servants  of 
God  upon  earth,  and  a  divine  recompence  of  their 
labours  and  sufferings,  2  Thes.  i.  6.  '  As  it  is  a 
righteous  thing  with  God  to  recompence  tribulation 
to  them  that  trouble  you,  so  to  give  to  those  who  are 
troubled  rest'  and  salvation. 


304)  A  S<\»UL  PREPARED  FOR  HE  WEN.      DISCOURSE  VIII. 

This  is  thai  equitable  or  condecent  fitness  that  God, 
as  governor  of  the  world,  has  wisely  appointed  and 
iTiadc  necessary  before  our  entrance  into  heaven. 
Christ  himself  our  forerunner,  and  the  *  captain  of 
our  salvation,  was  made  perfect  through  his  suffer- 
ings,' and  v»as  trained  up  for  his  throne  on  high  by 
enduring  the  contradiction  of  sinners,  and  the  variety 
of  agonies  which  attended  his  life  and  death  in  this 
lower  w  orld,  this  stage  of  conflict  and  sufferings.  See 
Heb.  ii.  10.  and  xii.  1. 

Though  we  cannot  pretend  by  our  labours  in  the 
race  to  have  merited  the  prize,  yet  we  must  labour 
through  the  race  before  we  receive  it.  Oar  conflicts 
cannot  pretend  to  have  deserved  the  crown  which  is 
pronfised,  but  we  must  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord 
before  we  obtain  it.  This  was  St.  Paul's  encourage- 
ment and  hope,  2  Tim.  iv.  7,  8.  **  I  have  fought  the 
good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept 
the  faith,  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown 
of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord  the  righteous  Judge 
V  ill  give  me,  and  not  to  me  only,  but  to  all  those 
who  love  his  appearance."  There  is  a  great  deal  of 
divine  wisdom  in  this  appointment,  that  the  children 
of  God  may  be  **  counted  in  this  sense,  worthy  of 
his  kingdom  for  which  they  also  suffer,"  2  Thes.  i. 
5.  and  that  the  relish  of  those  satisfactions  may  be 
doubled  to  all  the  sufferers. 

8.  God  yet  further  prepares  and  vvorks  up  his  peo- 
ple, for  heaven,  by  *  teaching  them  some  of  the  em^ 
ploymciits  of  the  heavenly  world,  and  initiating  and 
inuring  tliem  to  the  practice  thereof.'     Is  the  *  con- 


IMSCOURSE  VIII.       A   SOUL  PREPARED   FOR  HEAVEN.  305 

templation  of  tlie  blessed  God'  in  his  nature  and  his 
varicMis  perfections  the  business  of  glorified  souls  > 
God  teaches  his  children,  whom  he  is  training  up  for 
glory,  to  practise  this  holy  contemplation  :  He  fixes 
their  thou.qhts  upon  the  wonders  of  his  nature  and  his 
grace,  his  works  of  creation  and  providence,  the 
blessings  of  his  redeeming  love  by  his  Son  Jesus, 
sinCi  the  terrors  of  his  justice  which  shall  be  executed 
by  the  same  hand,  while  the  soul  at  the  same  time 
can  appt'iil  to  God  with  holy  delight,  *  My  medita- 
tion of  thee  hhall  be  sueet  indeed,'  O  may  I  dwell 
for  ever  in  tlie  midst  of  thy  light,  and  see  all  thy  won- 
drous glories  diffused  around  me,  and  make  my  joys 
cverijsting  ! 

Are  we  told  that  heaven  consists  also  in  *'  behold- 
ina:  the  ^h^vy  of  Clirist,"  John  xvii.  24.  And  how  hap- 
pily does  God  prepare  his  saints  for  this  part  of  heaven, 
by  filling  iheir  thoughts  with  the  various  graces  and 
honours  of  J<rhus  the  Saviour?  And  when  they  are  in 
their  lonely  retirements,  they  trace  the  footsteps  of 
their  beloved  through  all  his  labours  and  sorrows  in 
this  mortal  state,  even  from  his  cradle  to  his  cross  ; 
they  fallow  hiui  in  their  holy  meditations  to  his 
agonies  in  the  garden,  to  his  anguish  of  soul  there  ; 
through  all  his  sufferings  in  death,  through  the  grave 
his  bed  of  darkness,  and  trace  him  on  still  to  his  glo- 
rioLis  resurrection,  and  to  his  ascent  to  his  Father's 
house,  u  hen  a  bright  cloud  like  a  chariot  bore  him 
up  to  heaven  with  attending  angels  :  *  This  is  my 
beloved,'  says  the  soul,  and  *  this  is  my  friend,' 
whom  I  shall  see  u  ith  joy  in  the  upper  world  :   He 


306  A  SOUL    PREPARED   FOR  HEAVED'.       DISCOURSE  VIll. 

is  altogether  lovely,  and  he  demands  my  highest 
love. 

Is  it  part  of  the  happiness  of  heaven  to  *  conversef 
with  the  blessed  God  by  holy  addresses  of  acknow- 
ledgements and  praise,'  as  it  is  described  in  Rev. 
iv.  and  v.  and  vii.  '*  They  are  before  the  throne  of 
God  day  and  night,  and  serve  him  in  his  temple," 
and  join  with  holy  joy  to  pronounce  that  divine  song, 
*'  Blessing-  and  honour,  and  glory  and  power,  be  to 
him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb  for 
ever  and  ever  :  Worthy  art  thou,  O  Lord,  to  re- 
ceive glory  and  honour,  for  thou  hast  created  all 
things  for  thy  pleasure  :  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that 
u  as  slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and  strength, 
glory  and  blessing,  for  thou  was  slain,  and  hast  re- 
deemed us  unto  God  by  thy  blood  out  of  every  kin- 
dred and  nation."  Now  it  is  evident  that  those 
whose  hearts  and  lips  are  joyfully  fitted  to  pro- 
nounce this  holy  song,  and  to  join  in  this  harmony, 
are  fitted  also  for  these  blessed  employments  of  the 
heavenly  state  :  x'\nd  yet  at  the  same  time  they  abase 
themselves  in  the  dust  of  humility,  and  with  the  liv- 
ing  creatures  or  angels  they  fall  dov/n  before  the 
throne,  and  with  the  elders  they  cast  down  their 
crowns  at  his  foot,  they  confess  themselves  the  sons 
of  earth  and  dust,  and  would  appear  as  nothing  while 
God  is  all,  Rev.  iv.  9,  10.  and  v.  8. 

Are  all  the  powers  of  glorified  nature  in  heaven  ac- 
tive in  the  unknown  services  of  God  and  Christ 
there?  So  the  saints  are  tPc'.ined  up  for  this  service 
and  t'hrS-ftetivitJ'Ihere  on  earth,  by  diligence  and  de- 


DISCOURSE  VIIT.     A   SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  UEXVKK, 

light  in  their  less  noble  employments,  the  inft.nv* 
labours  and  duties  that  providence  demands  of  thevn. 
here,  whereby  they  are  prcpare^l  for  more  glorious 
employment  on  high  ;  for  heaven  is  no  idle  or  unac- 
tive  state. 

Do  some  of  die  satisfactions  of  the  heavenly  vi'orld 
arise  from  the  '  sweet  society  of  the  blessed  above, 
their  fervent  love  to  each  other,  their  mutual  delight 
in  holy  converse,  the  joy  that  arises  in  the  heart  of 
each  upon  a  survey  of  the  happiness  of  all  the  holy 
and  blessed  inhabitants  ?  Docs  benevolence  and 
goodness  of  every  kind  overflow  in  the  heavenly 
world  ?'  It  is  plain  that  God  is  training  up  his  own 
children  for  this  blessedness,  by  employing  them  in 
this  manner  Vv^bile  they  are  here  below  :  He  is  in  some 
measure  fitted  for  this  heaven,  who  can  say,  the 
*  saints  are  the  excellent  of  the  earth,  in  whom  is  all 
my  delight :'  I  love  tliem  from  my  soul,  because  they 
love  my  God  and  my  Saviour.  I  see  tlie  image  of 
the  Father,  and  of  Jesus  his  Son  in  them,  and  1  can- 
not but  love  that  image  wheresoever  I  behold  it.  i 
feel  myself  ready  to  rejoice  when  my  fellov/  chris- 
tians partake  of  joy,  and  I  long  for  that  temper  cf 
mind  when  I  shall  delight  myself  in  the  felicity  of  all 
my  fellow  saints  in  perfection,  and  shall  make  their 
heaven  a  part  of  my  own.  But  I  proceed  not  here, 
])ecause  this  would  anticipate  what  I  design  hereaf- 
ter. 

9.  God  Is  pleased  to  work  up  his  people  to  a  pre- 
paration for  the  heavenly  state,  by  '  giving  thcn\  a 
pledge  and  earnest  of  the  blessedness  of  heaven,'  that 


.308  A  SGITL  PREPARED  FOR   HEAVEN.       DISCOURSE   VllI, 

is,  by  sending  his  own  Spirit  into  their  hearts  under 
this  very  character,  both  as  the  spring  of  divine  life, 
and  as  the  evidence  of  our  hope,  and  sometimes 
bestowing  upon  them  such  'foretastesof  the  heavenly 
world,'  by  the  operations  of  his  holy  Spirit,  which 
are  too  joyful  and  glorious  to  be  fully  expressed  in 
mortal  language  ;  but  we  shall  attempt  something 
of  it  in  another  discourse. 

I  proceed  now  to  seek  what  inferences  or  edifying 
remarks  may  be  made  upon  our  meditations  thus  far. 

Rem,  1.  We  learn  from  my  text  '  \\\v<xi  are  the 
brightest,  the  plainest,  and  the  surest  evidences  of 
our  interest  in  the  heavenly  blessedness  :  Are  we 
trained  up  to  it,  and  prepared  for  it?'  Has  tlie  bles- 
sed God  wrought  up  our  souls  to  any  hopeful  degrees 
of  this  preparation  :  Has  he  in  any  measure  made  us 
meet  for  this  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light  ? 

I  grant  the  scripture  teaches  us,  that  it  is  by  a 
true  and  living  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that 
we  obtain  a  title  to  eternal  life,,  according  to  the  pro- 
posals of  the  covenant  of  grace  in  the  gospel  ;  but 
our  preparation  for  heaven  by  a  holy  and  heavenly 
temper  of  mind  and  conduct  of  life,  is  the  fairest 
and  most  uncontested  evidence  of  the  truth  and  life 
of  our  faith,  and  such  a  proof  of  it  as  will  stand  the 
test  both  in  life  and  death,  in  this  world,  and  in  the 
world  to  come.  If  we  would  manifest  our  faith  in 
Christ  to  be  sincere  and  genuine  and  effectual  for  our 
salvation,  we  mubt  make  it  appear  that  we  are  grow- 
ing up  into  the  image  of  Christ  in  all  things,  we  must 
be  formed  after  the  likeness  of  the  Son  of  God,  uho 


DISCOURSE  VIII.       A  SOUL    PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  309. 

is  our  great  example,  and  our  fore-runner  into  heaven; 
and  where  this  evidence  is  found  the  soul  cannot  fail 
of  salvation.  Wlieresoever  there  is  tliis  fitness  for 
the  joys  on  high,  God  will  assuredly  bestow  these 
divine  pleasures.  It  is  for  such  souls  that  he  has 
prepared  a  heaven,  and  when  he  has  prepared  such 
souls  for  the  heavenly  world,  he  will  surely  bring 
them  to  the  possession  of  it. 

Of  how  great  moment  and  importance  is  it  then 
for  each  of  us  to  examine  ourselves  with  watchful 
diligence  and  sincerity,  whether  we  are  in  any  mea- 
sure fitted  for  the  blessedness  above  :  And  to  this 
end  we  may  run  over  in  our  enquiries  all  the  former 
steps  of  preparation. 

Let  us  enquire  of  our  souls  then,    Am  I  so  fully 
persuaded  of  this  state  of  future  happiness,  as  to  re- 
solve this  shall  be  my  aim,  this  my  everlasting  pur* 
suit?  Have  we  seen  this  blessedness  in  the  various 
representations  of  it  in  the  word  of  God,  as  the  most 
amiable    and  desirable  thing,  and    have  we  set  our 
faces  to  travel  thither  with  an  holy  purpose  and  de- 
termination, through  grace,    never  to  tire,   or  grow 
weary  till  we  arrive  at  the  enjoyment  of  it  ?   Have  we 
fixed  our   hope    and    expectation  upon  the  blessed 
promises  in  the  word,  and  are  we  by  these  promises 
endeavouring  daily  to  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  de- 
filements of  flesh  and  spirit,  and  to  perfect  holiness  in 
the  fear  of  God  ?    Do  we  obtain  any  victories  over  our 
spiritual  enemies,  and   maintain  our  pious  conflicts 
against  all  the  oppositions  which  we  meet  with  in  our 
way  ?  Do  we  labour  to  surpress  every  rising  ferment 

R    2 


510  A   SOUL  PREPARED   fOR  HEAVEN.       DISCOURSE  VI II. 

of  envy,  pride,  wrath,  sensuality,  and  those  corrupt 
appetites  and  passions  which  render  us  unfit  for  that 
holy  and  heavenly  world  :  Are  your  hearts  daily 
more  mortified  to  the  things  of  this  world,  the  en- 
joyments of  Piesh  and  sense,^  which  are  not  to  be 
found  in  heaven?  Are  our  hearts  more  weaned  from 
the  sensual  satisfactions  and  intemperate  delights  of 
the  animal  life!  Are  we  deadto  the  temptations  of  gold 
and  silver,  the  grandeurs  and  the  gaieties,  and  splen- 
dors of  this  present  low  life  of  flesh  and  blood,  which 
are  no  part  nor  portion  of  the  heavenly  felicity  ?  Do 
we  view  the  tempting  things  of  this  world  with  an 
holy  indifference,  and  possess  and  use  them  with  af- 
fections so  calm  and  so  cool,  as  becomes  a  rank  of 
beings  that  have  a  nobler,  a  richer,  and  a  more  exalt- 
ed hope  ?  Have  we  found  the  labours  and  burdens, 
the  sorrows  and  afflictions  of  the  present  state,  hap- 
py instruments  to  prepare  us  for  the  blessedness 
above,  bv  curins:  all  our  vain  and  carnal  desires? 
Are  we  in  any  measure  imitators  of  those  who  have 
gone  before  us  thro'ugh  faith  and  patience,  and  are 
made  possessors  of  the  promised  joy?  Are  we  *^fol- 
lo\^crs  of  God  as  dear  children  ?"  Have  we  the  im- 
age of  our  heavenly  Father  created  anew  in  us,  .and 
do  we  walk  as  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  also  walked, 
Mhile  he  was  in  this  wilderness  travelling  ro  his  Fa- 
ther's house  ?  Are  our  earnest  desires  towards  this 
sort  of  felicity  excited  and  raised  high  ?  Have  ^^  e  a 
strong  tendency  of  soul  to  the  holy  enjoyments  of 
till-  upper  world  r  Do  we  si.u^h  and  groan  afier  a  corn- 
piece  freedom  from  sin,  and  a  deliverance  from  ev^- 


DISCOURSE   VIII.       A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  311 

ery  temptation  ?  Do  we  employ  ourselves  with  pica- 
sure  in  the  work  and  business  of  heaven,  in  the  holy 
contemplation  of  God,  in  a  delii^htful  survey  of  the 
person  and  offices  of  his  Son  Jesus,  his  wondrous, 
condescension,  an/d  his  amazing  compassion  ?  Do  we 
take  pleasure  in  conversing  with  God  our  Father  by 
holy  addresses  of  praise  and  thankfulness  ?  Do  we 
love  all  the  saints,  and  delight  in  their  society,  and 
do  we  rejoice  to  spend  our  time  with  them  in  heaven- 
ly conversation,  though  they  may  be  amongst  the 
lower  ranks  of  life  here  on  earth  ?  And  do  we  dif- 
fuse our  love  through  all  who  wear  the  image  of  God, 
and  take  a  pleasing  satisfaction  of  soul  in  their  in- 
crease in  holiness,   and  rejoice  in  their  joys  ? 

If  God  has  thus  fitted  thee,  O  Christian,  in  this 
manner  for  the  mansions  of  the  happy  world,  then 
surely  he  has  set  thee  apart  for  himself,  he  has  be- 
gun eternal  life  in  thee,  the  dawn  of  eternal  glory  is 
risen  upon  thee,  and  he  will  bring  thee  into  the  com- 
plete noon  of  blessedness,  into  the  overflowing  light 
of  divine  beatitudes.  ''Arise  and  shine"  O  Christian, 
for  thy  light  is  come,  *'  the  glory  of  the  Lofd  is  risen 
upon  thee  ;"  thou  hast  no  need  to  ascend  into  heaven 
to  search  for  thy  evidences  among  the  decrees  of  God, 
and  to  pry  into  the  rolls  of  electing  grace  ;  for  if 
thou  hast  been  transformed  into  an  heavenly  temj^er, 
thy  name  is  surely  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of 
life;  heaven  \^  begun  within  thee,  and  God  will 
fulfil  his  own  work. 

Rem.  2.  '  What  a  solid  comfort  is  it  to  poor 
mouriiin?-,   troubled,    afflicted   souls   under  all  their 


312  A  SOrL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.      DISCOURSE  VIIT. 

sorrows,  their  frailties,  their  temptations,  and  infir- 
mities here  on  earth,  that  they  have  a  clear  evidence 
of  heaven  within  them.'  This  is  such  a  peace  as  Je- 
sus Christ  left  to  his  disciples  by  legacy,  John  xiv. 
27.  '^Such  as  the  world  cannot  give,"  and  such  as 
the  world  cannot  take  away. 

This  is  a  spring  of  constant  and  divine  consolation 
to  those  who  seem  to  be  worn  out  with  old  age  or 
infirmities  of  nature,  and  they  complain  they  are  fit 
for  no  service  in  this  world ;  but  if  they  can  Teel  in 
themselves  this  holy  fitness  for  the  enjoyments  of 
heaven,  they  have  a  rich  and  living  fountain  of  plea- 
sure in  their  own  breasts,  ever  springing,  ever  flow- 
ing, and  such  as  will  follow  them  with  daily  supplies 
of  pleasure,  if  they  are  not  wanting  to  themselves, 
through  all  this  wilderness,  till  they  arrive  at  that 
land  were  all  the  rivers  of  blessing  meet  and  join  in 
a  full  stream,  to  make  the  inhabitants  for  ever  hap- 

It  may  be,  O  Christian,  thou  art  afraid  that  thou 
hast  felt  but  little  of  this  divine  preparation  ;  thou 
seest  so  many  defects  in  thyself  daily,  so  much  un- 
likeness  to  God,  so  much  working  of  iniquity,  such 
restless  efforts  of  the  body  of  sin,  so  much  prevalence 
of  temptation,  so  much  coldness  in  duty,  such  dead- 
ness  in  acts  of  devotion,  such  frequent  returns  of 
guilt  and  pain  in  a  tender  conscience,  and  so  many 
enemies  to  struggle  with  every  step  of  thy  way  to 
heaven,  that  thou  art  greatly  discouraged  and  afraid 
this  divine  preparation  is  not  wrought  in  thee.  En- 
quire then  yet  further,    are   all    these   melancholy 


DISCOURSE  VIII.       A  SOUL  PREPARES  FOR  HEAVEN.  313 

scenes  both  within  and  without,  the  matter  of  thy 
sincere  p^rief  and  burden  ?  Canst  thou  say  in  this 
tabernacle,  I  groan,  being  burdened  with  the  body 
of  sin,  as  well  as  with  the  frailties  and  pains  of  na- 
ture I  Canst  thou  say  sincerely,  that  thy  inmost  de- 
sires are  towards  God  and  his  glory  in  the  present 
life,  and  towards  his  enjoyment  in  the  life  to  come  > 
Dost  thou  maintain  a  constant  converse  with  heaven 
as  well  as  ihou  canst,  though  it  be  so  much  broken, 
and  so  often  painfully  interrupted?  Hast  thou  a  con- 
tinual and  settled  aversion  and  hatred  to  sin,  and  a 
holy  jealousy  and  fear  of  its  defilements  ?  Hast  thou 
a  restless  breathing  of  soul  after  greater  likeness  to 
God,  and  greater  communion  with  him?  Dost  thou 
delight  in  spiritual  and  holy  conversation  ;  and  does 
thy  zeal  for  the  honour  of  God  and  his  Son  Jesus, 
carry  thee  forth  to  those  actions  which  are  suitable 
to  thy  station,  for  the  advancement  of  religion  in  the 
world  ?  Be  assured  then  that  God  is  training  thee 
up  for  this  heavenly  state,  and  has  in  some  measure 
prepared  thee  for  it.  God  has  begun  in  thee  the  busi- 
ness and  blessedness  of  the  upper  world.  In  the 
midst  of  all  thy  sorrows  and  complaints  here  below, 
peace  be  with  thee,  and  joy  in  the  Lord,  for  thy 
salvation  and  thy  felicity  shall  be  compleated. 

Rem,  3.  *  How  vain,  and  idle,  and  unreasonable 
are  all  the  hopes  of  sinners,  that  they  shall  ever  ar- 
rive at  heaven  without  any  preparation  for  it  here?' 
There  is  nothing  divine  and  holy  begun  in  them  in 
this  world,  and  yet  they  hope  to  be  made  ha|)py  in 
the  world  that  is  to  come  ;  there  is  nothing  of  true 


314  A   SOUL   PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.       DISCOURSE  VIII. 

grace  in  their  hearts  here,  and  yet  they  vainly  expect 
to  be  made  perfect  in  pleasure  and  glory  hereafter. 

Think  with  thyself,  O  carnal  creature,  that  hea- 
ven will  be  a  burden  to  thee;  the  powers,  the  appe- 
tites, and  passions  of  diy  sinful  nature,  will  not  suf- 
fer thee  to  relish  the  joys  of  the  heavenly  state. 
Dost  thou  imagine  that  a  worm  or  serpent  of  the 
earrh,  or  a  swine  which  is  ever  tumbling  in  the  mire, 
can  be  entertained  with  the  golden  ornaments  and 
splendors  of  a  palace  ?  Or  will  the  stupid  ass  be  de- 
lighted with  the  harmony  of  a  harp  or  viol  ?  No  more 
can  a  soul  of  a  carnal  and  sensual  taste,  and  which  is 
ever  seeking  and  groveling  after  earthly  gratifica- 
tions, be  pleased  or  gratified  with  the  refined  enjoy- 
ments of  the  heavenly  world.  Thou  must  have  a 
new  nature,  new  appetites  and  affections,  ere  thou 
canst  partake  of  divine  joys,  or  relish  them  if  thou 
wert  placed  in  the  midst  of  them.  Holy  adoration  of 
God,  and  humble  converse  with  him  in  worship, 
converse  widi  the  suints  about  divine  things,  per- 
fect purity  and  devotion,  with  the  meditation  of  the 
excellencies  of  Christ,  and  the  sight  of  him  in  his 
ordinances,  have  never  yet  been  the  object  of  thy 
delight  or  iov  ;  nav  they  have  rather  been  thine  aver- 
sion  ;  and  shouldst  thou  have  the  gates  of  heaven  open 
before  thee,  and  see  what  business  the  holv  souls 
there  are  en^ploycd  in,  thou  wouldst  find  no  desire 
to  such  sort  of  satisfactions  ;  the  place  and  the  com- 
panv  wcvuld  be  thy  burden,  if  thou  couldst  be  kt  at 
once  into  the  niidot  of  them. 


DISCOURSE  VIII.       A   SOUL  PREPARED   FOR  HEAVEN.  315 

Think  ap:ain,  O  sinful  wretch,  thy  carnality  of 
soul,  thy  supreme  love  of  sensual  and  brutual  joys, 
the  secret  malice  or  envy,  the  pride  and  impiety  of 
thy  heart,  have  prepared  thee  for  another  sort  of  com- 
pany ;  thou  art  fitted  for  hell  by  tlie  very  temper  of 
thy  spirit,  for  such  are  the  inhabitants  of  that  misera- 
ble world,  and  in  thy  present  state  there  can  be  no 
admission  for  thee  into  heaven.  Thou  hast  treasur- 
ed up  food  for  the  worm  that  ne^'er  dies,  for  the  eter- 
nal anguish  of  conscience;  thou  hast  made  thyself 
fit  fuel  by  indulgence  of  thy  sinful  and  rebellious  ap- 
petites and  passions,  for  the  fiery  indigi^ation  of  God; 
and  every  day  thou  persistest  in  this  state,  thy  pre- 
paration for  the  dark  regions  of  sin  and  sorrow  is  in- 
creased.    But  this  leads  me  to  the  last  remark. 

Rem,  4.  '  How  dangerous  a  thing  it  is  for  a  sinner 
to  continue  a  day  longer  in  a  state  so  unprepared  for 
the  heavenly  world.'  Dost  thou  not  know,  whilst 
we  are  inhabitants  in  these  region*?  of  mortality,  we 
are  borderers  upon  deatli ;  and  if  we  are  unprepared 
for  heaven,  we  are  borderers  upon  damnation  and 
hell  ?  Our  life  is  but  a  vapour,  and  the  next  puff 
may  blow  us  away  into  the  regions  of  everlasting 
darkness,  misery,  and  despair. 

Alas  !  How  much  of  this  divine  preparation  do  the 
best  of  saints  stand  in  need  of  for  an  immediate  en- 
trance into  heaven  ?  "What  care  do  they  take,  how 
constaiit  are  their  labours,  and  how  fervent  their 
prayers  to  increase  in  this  divine  fitness,  in  these  ho- 
ly and  heavenly  qualifications  ?  Aiuldost  thou  vainly 
imagine  to  exchange  earth  fi)r   htaven  at  once,   and 


316  A  SOUL  PREPARED  TOR  HEAVEN.    DISCOURSE   VIIJ. 

to  be  received  into  the  pure  and  holy  mansions  of 
paradise  without  any  conformity  to  God  or  Christ,  or 
the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  world  ? 

Objection,  But  some  idle  and  slothful  creatures  will 
be  ready  to  olject  and  say,  if  it  be  God  who  creates 
his  people  anew,  according  to  his  own  image,  and 
fits  them  for  heaven  :  if  we  must  be  wrought  up  by 
his  power  and  grace  for  the  participation  of  this 
glory,  what  can  we  do  towards  it  ourselves  }  Or  why 
are  we  charged  and  exhorted  to  prepare  ourselves 
for  heaven  ?  Since  then  it  is  God  must  do  this  work, 
why  may  we  not  lie  still,  and  wait  till  his  grace  shall 
prepare  us  ? 

I  answer,  no,  by  no  means ;  for  God  is  wont  to 
exert  his  grace  only  while  creatures  are  in  the  use  of 
his  appointments,  and  fulfil  their  duty.  This  lan- 
guage therefore,  and  these  excuses,  seem  to  be  the 
mere  cavils  of  a  carnal  mind,  or  the  voice  of  sloth  and 
indolence.  Those  who  have  no  inclination  to  pre- 
pare themselves  for  the  joys  of  the  heavenly  state, 
may  wait  and  expect  divine  influences  in  vain,  if 
they  will  never  stir  up  themselves  to  practise  what  is 
in  their  own  power,  and  to  attempt  what  the  gospel 
of  grace  demands. 

In  almost  all  the  transactions  of  God  with  men,  it 
is  the  V.  ay  of  his  wisdom  to  join  our  diligence  and 
his  grace  together ;  and  there  are  many  Scriptures 
that  give  us  sufficient  notice  of  this.  See  how  St. 
Paul  argues  with  the  Philippians,  and  stirs  them  up 
to  zeal  and  activity  in  securing  their  own  salvation 
by  the  hope  of  divine  assistances:   Phil,  ii,  12,  1.3. 


niSCOURSE  VIII.       A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  Sl"^ 

'*  Work  out  your  own  salvation,    for  it  is  God  that 
worketh  in   you   both   to   will  and  to  do."     So  said 
David  to  his  son  Solomon,    when  he  appointed  him 
to  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord,    1  Chron.  xxviii. 
20.  "  Be  strong  and  of  good  courage,   and  do  it, — 
for  the  Lord  God,   even  my  God,  will  be  with  thee, 
and  will  not  lliil  thee,   nor  forsake  thee,    until   thou 
hast   finished    all  the  work."     This  was  the  charge 
also  that  God  gave  to  his  people  Israel,  Lev.  xx.  7, 
8.  "  Sanctify   yourselves^    and  be  ye  holy,   keep  my 
statutes;   I  am  the  Lord  who  sanctifieth  you."     So 
the  Psalmist  tells  us,  Psal.  iv.  3.  *'  The  Lord  hath  set 
apart,   or  separated  him  who  is  godly  for  himself;'* 
and  yet,  2  Cor.  vi.  17.  The  Lord  commands  his  peo, 
pie  to  '^separate  themselves"  uiito  him,  to  *'comeout 
from  amongst"  the  sinners  of  this  world ;   and  *'  be 
you  separate,"    saith  the  Lord,    **  and  I  will  receive 
you."     So  in  other  places  of  Scripture,   divine  wis- 
dom commands  sinners  to  fulfil  their  duty,  Prov.  i. 
23.  *'  Turn  ye  at  my  reproof:"  And  yet  in  the  80th 
psalm,  the  church  prays,    "  Turn  us,  O  Lord,  and 
we  shall  be   saved."     The   case   is   very  much  the 
same  even  in  the  things  that  relate  to  this  life,  where- 
in divine  assistance  and  blessing  are  connected  with 
our  diligence  in  duty.     Solomon  tells  us,  Prov.  x.  4. 
*'The  hand  of  the  diligent   maketh  rich;"  and  yet 
ver.  22,  It  is  *'  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  that  maketh 
rich  also."     We   can   never   expect   the  favours  of 
heaven,  unless  we  are  zealous  to  obey  the  commands 
of  heaven. 

f,  2 


518  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.       DlSCOtfRSE  VIIlo 

When  the  sinful  children  of  men  are  found  waiting* 
on  God  in  his  own  appointed  ordinances,  then  they 
are  in  the  fairest  v\ay  to  receive  divine  communica- 
tions, and  be  transformed  into  saints.  If  the  blind 
man  liad  not  obeyed  the  voice  of  Christ,  John  ix.  7. 
and  washed  himself  *  in  the  pgol  of  Siloam,'  he 
could  not  expect  to  have  received  his  eye-sight.  If  the 
man  with  the  withered  hand,  Matth.  xii.  10,  13.  had 
not  used  his  ov/n  endeavours  to  *  stretch  forth  his 
hand'  at  the  command  of  Christ,  I  can  hardly  believe 
it  would  have  been  restored  to  its  ancient  vigour  and 
usefulness.  If  the  poor  impotent  creature  had  not 
been  waitini^  at  the  side  of  the  *  pool  in  Beihesda,* 
John  V.  he  had  not  met  with  the  blessed  Jesus,  nor 
been  healed  by  his  miraculous  power.  You  will  say, 
perhaps,  that  our  blessed  Saviour  could  have  visited 
him  in  his  own  house,  could  have  directed  his  jour- 
ney towards  his  habitation,  or  have  sent  for  him  into 
the  public,  and  healed  him  there.  No,  our  Lord  did 
not  choose  either  of  these  ways;  but  while  the  man 
was  waiting  at  the  pool,  where  he  had  encourage- 
n\ei^t  to  hope  for  a  cure,  there  the  Lord  found  him, 
and  healed  him. 

Let  not  any  presuming  sinner  therefore,  who  is  sen- 
sible of  his  own  unfitness  for  heaven,  dare  to  continue 
in  a  careless  indifference  about  so  important  a  con- 
cern :  Let  him  not  put  oft'  his  own  conscience  with 
this  foolish  exr.use,  '  It  is  God  must  do  all  in  us  and 
for  us,  and  therefore  I  will  do  nothing  myself.'  Dost 
thou  think,  O  soul,  that  this  will  be  a  sufScient  an- 
swer to  him  that  shall  judge  thee  in  the  great  and 


DISCOURSE  VIII.      A   SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN'.  319 

solemn  day  ?  May  you  not  expect  to  hear  the  Judge 
reply  terribly  to  such  an  excuse,  *  You  never  soui^ht 
after  this  preparation  for  heaven,  and  you  must  be 
plunged  into  hell,  for  which  your  own  rebellion  and 
slothfulness  hath  prepared  you.' 

But  perhaps  you  will  object  again,  what  can  so 
feeble,  so  sinful  a  creature  as  I  am,  do  towards  this 
divine  work  ? 

I  ansvjcr,  Canst  thou  not  separate  one  quarter  of 
an  hour  daily  to  think  of  thy  dreadful  circumstances, 
and  thine  eternal  danger  in  a  sinful  and  defiled  state 
of  soul  ?  Think  of  the  uncertainty  of  life,  and  hov/ 
sudden  thy  summons  may  be  into  the  eternal  and  un- 
changeable state.  Survey  thyself  in  thy  sinful  con- 
dition both  of  heart  and  life,  and  see  how  unfit  thou 
art  for  the  company  of  all  the  holy  ones  above.  Me- 
ditate on  these  thy  perilous  circumstances,  till  thy 
heart  be  deeply  affected  therewith;  fall  down  before 
God  in  humble  acknowledgment  of  thy  former  guilt 
and  pollutions:  Give  up  thyself  to  him  with  holy  so- 
lemnity, to  have  thy  heart  turned  away  from  every 
sin,  and  strongly  inclined  to  holiness  and  heaven. 
Commit  thy  soul,  guilty  and  defiled  as  it  is,  into  the 
hands  of  Jesus  the  Mediator ;  entrust  thy  case  with 
him  as  an  all-sufficient  Saviour;  entreat  that  he 
would  cleanse  thee  from  all  thy  guilt  and  pollution, 
by  the  blood  of  his  sacrifice,  and  the  grate  of  his 
Spirit;  that  blood  of  atonement  which  has  procured 
for  sinners  pardon  and  peace  with  God,  and  those 
operations  of  his  grace  which  may  sanctify  thy  sinful 
nature.     Address  thyself  to  the  exalted  Saviour  for 


320  A   SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEK.       DISCOURSE  VI1I» 

healing  influences  from  his  hand,  to  cure  all  the 
maladies  of  thy  soul,  to  form  thee  after  his  image, 
and  to  make  thee  a  son  of  God.  Pray  with  holy 
importunity  for  this  necessary  and  divine  blessing, 
wait  on  God  in  secret  and  in  public;  give  him  no 
rest  niixht  nor  day  till  he  has  renewed  thy  soul,  and 
transformed  thee  into  a  new  creature,  and  given  thee 
a  relish  of  the  heavenly  enjoym.ents:  Dwell  at  the 
throne  of  grace  till  thou  feelest  thy  heart  drawn  up- 
ward and  heavenward,  and  watch  against  every  thing 
that  would  defile  thy  soul  anew,  or  make  thee  unfit 
to  enter  into  the  company  of  the  blessed. 

Permit  me  here  to  dwell  a  little  upon  those  71:0- 
thes  that  should  awaken  thee  to  bethink  thyself  ere  it 
be  too  late,  before  the  grave  has  shut  its  mouth  up- 
on thee,  and  thou  art  consigned  to  the  place  of  eter- 
nal misery.  Awake,  awake,  O  impenitent  sinners, 
who  are  as  yet  unprepared  for  the  business  and  bless- 
edness of  the  heavenly  state  ;  awake  and  exert  your 
souls  in  w^armest  reflections  on  matters  of  infinite 
importance. 

(1.)  Think  with  yourselves  how  much  the  great 
God  has  done  towards  the  preparation  of  sinful  men 
for  this  heaven  ;  think  seriously  of  his  long-suffering 
goodness,  and  his  sparing  mercy,  w^hich  should  have 
led  you  long  ago  to  a  melting  sense  of  your  own  folly, 
and  brought  you  back  unto  him  by  humble  repen- 
tance. For  what  reason  were  his  patience  and  his 
long  suffering  exercised  towards  you,  if  not  for  this 
very  purpose?  Rom.  ii.  4.  Think  of  the  blessings 
of  nature  with  v/liich  he  has  surrounded    vou,   and 


DISCOURSE   VIII.       A  SOUL   PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  321 

■the  comforts  of  this  life  wherewith  he  has  furnished 
you,  in  order  to  allure  your  thoughts  towards  him, 
who  is  the  spring  of  all  goodness  ;  and  to  raise  your 
desires  towards  him:  It  is  he  invites  you,  who  will 
be  the  everlasting  portion  and  happiness  of  his  peo- 
pie,  and  in  whose  favour  consists  life  and  felicity;  and 
dare  not  any  longer  neglect  your  preparation  for  this 
happiness,  which  consists  in  the  enjoyment  of  God, 
lest  you  should  be  cut  off  before  you  are  prepared. 

(2.)  Consider  again  what  Jesus  the  Son  of  God 
has  done  and  suffered,  and  consider  what  he  is  yet 
doing-  towards  the  preparation  of  souls  for  heaven  : 
He  came  down  to  our  world  to  undertake  the  glori- 
ous and  dreadful  work  of  the  redemption  of  sinners 
from  the  curse  of  the  law  and  the  terrors  of  hell,  and 
to  procure  a  heaven  for  every  rebellious  creature  that 
would  rerurn  to  God  his  Father.  Think  of  the  agon- 
ies of  his  death  with  which  he  purchased  mansions 
of  glory  for  those  that  receive  his  grace  in  his  own 
appointed  methods,  those  that  are  willing  to  have 
their  hearts  and  minds  formed  into  a  suitable  frame 
to  receive  this  felicity.  Remember  that  he  is  risen 
from  the  dead,  he  is  ascended  to  prepare  a  place  in 
glory  for  those  that  are  willing  to  follow  him  through 
the  paths  of  holiness.  Hearken  to  the  many  kind  in- 
vitations and  allurements  of  his  gospel,  w^hich  calls 
to  the  worst  of  sinners  to  return  and  live,  and  en- 
treats and  exhorts  those  who  are  in  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  and  upon  the  borders  of  hell,  '*  to  look  uiUo 
him  that  they  may  be  saved,"  Isa.  xlv.  22.  Take 
heed  that  you  suffer  not  these  seasons  of  hit,  inviting 


o2'2  A   SOUL  PKEPARED  FOR  HEAVEJJ.       DISCOURSE  VIII. 

love  to  slide  away  and  vanish  unimproved  ;  take 
heed  how  you  rebel  against  the  language  of  the  grace 
of  his  gospel,  and  thereby  prepare  yourselves  for 
double  and  everlasting  destruction. 

(3.)  Think  again,  what  blessed  assistances  he  has 
proposed  to  those  who  are  desirous  to  be  trained  up 
for  heaven  ;  how  many  thousand  souls,  as  carnal,  as 
sensual,  and  as  criminal  as  yours  are,  have  been  re- 
covered by  the  word  of  his  gospel,  and  the  influ- 
ences of  his  Spirit,  to  a  new  nature  and  life  of  holi- 
ness ?  How  many  are  there  who  from  children  of 
wrath,  have  become  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
most  high  God,  heirs  of  tliis  blessedness,  and  pre- 
pared for  the  enjoyment  of  it  ?  O  take  heed  that  yon 
resist  not  this  grace,  nor  rebel  against  the  kind  and 
i.acred  motions  of  the  blessed  Spirit  within  you,  when 
his  very  ofdce  and  business  is  to  change  your  sinful 
natures,  and  to  prepare  you  for  the  regions  of  eter- 
nal holiness  and  peace. 

(4.)  Think  yet  further  what  advantages  you  have 
had  from  the  weekly  ministrations  of  the  word  of 
grace,  from  reading  the  book  of  God  in  your  own 
language,  and  from  the  pious  education  many  of  you 
have  enjoyed  in  tlie  families  from  whence  you  sprung. 
Think  what  awakening  hints  you  have  received  by 
the  inward  conviction  of  your  own  consciences,  and 
by  the  christian  friends  you  may  have  conversed 
widi:  Have  you  not  been  told  plainly  enough  by  the 
voice  of  consricnce,  that  you  are  now  utterly  unpre- 
pared for  heaven  ?  Have  not  public  and  private  ad- 
monliioiis  glvci:;  you  sudicient  vvariiing  of  the  danger 


PISCOURSE  VIII.       A   SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVENS  32:^ 

of  your  present  state  ?  And  after  all  this  will  you  pro- 
ceed in  your  own  sinful  course  till  you  arrive  at  the 
very  gates  of  hell  and  destruction,  till  you  have 
prepared  yourselves,  and  made  your  souls  ripe  for 
the  vengeance  of  God,  and  are  plunged  into  it  by- 
death  without  remedy  or  relief? 

(5.)  Consider  how  dreadful  will  your  state  be  if 
death  meet  you  in  all  your  guilt  and  defilements,  un- 
washed, unpardoned,  and  unsanctified,  without  any 
garment  of  righteousness,  without  any  robe  of  salva- 
tion. V/iiat  a  terrible  sentence  is  that  which  death 
will  pronounce  upon  every  such  sinner  the  moment 
that  he  strikes  their  heart  ?  Hear  it  and  tremble,  O 
miserable  creature,  hear  the  formidable  and  eternal 
sentence,  '*  Let  him  that  is  unholy  be  unholy  still  :" 
Let  him  that  is  unprepared  for  heaven  go  down  to 
the  regions  of  death  and  hell,  for  which  his  iniquities 
have  best  prepared  him. 

(6.)  Tinnk  with  yourselves,  if  you  have  any  thing 
of  importance  to  do  in  this  world,  or  have  any  mo- 
mentuous  scene  of  life  to  pass  through,  how  diligent 
are  you  in  preparation  for  it.  If  you  are  but  to  visit 
the  court  of  a  prince,  or  to  ^o  to  make  your  ad- 
dresses  to  any  great  man  of  honour  and  power,  or 
to  be  admitted  into  any  numerous  society  of  a  su- 
perior character,  how  diligendy  do  you  endeavour 
to  furnish  yourselves  ^vith  such  knowledge  of  the 
common  ceremonies  of  life,  and  such  ornaments 
about  your  body  as  may  render  you  acceptable 
amongst  those  whom  you  are  goiiig  to  converse  with: 
And  does  not  an  entrance  into  the  court  of  heaven. 


•S24f  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.       DISCOtTRSE  Vni.- 

into  the  presence  of  a  God  of  holiness,  and  into  the 
society  of  pure  and  blessed  spirits,  require  some  so- 
licitude and  care  about  those  ornaments  and  qualifi- 
cations which  are  necessary  for  so  solemn  and  glori- 
ous an  appearance?  If  you  are  designing^  in  this  life  to 
commence  any  trade  or  business  for  your  employ- 
ment and  your  support,  you  are  vvillin^^  to  serve  an 
apprenticeship  of  seven  years  in  order  to  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  exercise  of  this  public  business  ;  and  can 
you  not  afford  one  day  in  a  week  to  learn  the  busi- 
ness of  heaven,  and  to  prepare  for  the  blessedness 
of  it  ? 

And  let  parents  also  consider  whh  themselves  what 
pains  they  have  taken  that  their  children  may  be  fit 
for  the  trades  and  employments  of  life  to  which  they 
design  them,  and  then  let  each  enquire  of  their  own 
consciences,  have  I  ever  done  so  much  to  train  up 
my  son  for  the  heavenly  world,  to  fit  him  for  the  ap- 
pearance before  God,  and  saints  and  angels,  and  for 
all  the  unknown  services  of  that  celestial  country  ? 

(7.)  Go  on  yet  futher,  O  impenitent  sinners,  and 
consider  with  }  ourselves  what  a  blessedness  it  is  to 
be  prepared  for  heaven  ;  for  then  you  are  prepared 
for  death,  and  at  once  you  take  away  all  the  terrors 
of  it.  O  what  an  unspeakable  happiness  is  it  to  pass 
through  this  world  daily  without  the  fear  of  dying; 
what  is  it  that  makes  life  so  bitter  to  multitudes  of 
souls,  and  every  malady  or  accident  so  frightful  to 
tliem,  but  the  perpetual  terrors  of  death  ?  Think 
what  a  divine  satisfaction  it  is  to  walk  up  and  down 
in  this  desert  land,  ready  prepared  for  an  entrance 


i 


DISCOURSE  VIII.       A  SOUL  PREPARED  fOR  HEAVEN.  325 

into  the  land  of  promise,  the  inheritance  of  the  saints 
in  light :  Think  of  the  solid  joy  and  inward  consola- 
tion of  those  souls  who  feel  in  themselves  an  habi- 
tual readiness  for  a  departure  hence,  and  who  are 
wrought  up  by  divine  grace  to  a  preparation  for  the 
business  and  the  joys  above.  Think  of  the  victory  over 
death,  which  is  obtained  by  such  a  readiness  for  hea- 
ven, and  how  glorious  a  thing  it  is  to  meet  that  last 
enemy  the  king  of  terrors,  and  encounter  him  with- 
out fear,  and  to  triumph  over  him  with  divine  lan- 
guage, **  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting?"  How  joyful  a 
scene  would  it  be  to  take  leave  of  all  our  friends  in 
this  land  of  mortality,  with  an  assured  hope  that  we 
are  entering  into  a  happier  climate  and  a  better  coun- 
try, ready  prepared  for  all  the  more  glorious  scenes 
that  shall  meet  us  in  the  invisible  world  ? 

It  is  an  amazing  thing  to  me,  how  the  children  of 
men,  who  are  dying  daily  off  from  this  stage  of  life, 
who  must  all  shortly  die,  and  enter  into  a  world  of 
eternal  futurity,  should  be  no  more  concerned  about 
a  preparation  for  their  departure  hence  :  That  they 
should  be  so  stupidly  thoughtless  of  a  world  to  come, 
while  they  are  on  the  very  borders  of  it,  and  eternal 
joy  or  eternal  sorrow  depends  upon  this  one  question, 
'  Am  I  prepared  for  heaven  or  not?'  O  these  two  aw- 
ful regions  of  the  unseen  world  ;  where  the  love  of 
God  shines  with  its  bjightest  glories,  or  where  the 
vengenance  of  God  is  discovered  in  all  its  anguish 
and  horror?  One  of  these  will  be  the  certain  and  eter- 
nal dwelling  place  of  the  souls  that  are  prepared  for 
them,  and  iherc  must  they  pass  their  long  immurta- 

T  i> 


^26  A  SOUL  PREPARED  TOR  HEAVEN.      DISCOURSE  Villi. 

Jity,  either  in  joy  or  in  sorrow,  without  a  change; 
and  yet  the  foolish  and  besotted  tribes  of  mankind 
seem  to  have  abandoned  all  thought  and  concern 
about  them,     A  dangerous  lethargy,  or  distraction  ! 

What  shall  we  do  to  cure  sinners  of  this  madness  ? 
Shall  I  try  to  rouse  these  indolent  unthhiking  wretches 
out  of  their  dangerous  and  mortal  slumbers  with  the 
loudest  voice  of  thuHder  and  divine  terror  ?  But  the 
lethargy  of  sin  is  proof  against  all  these  terrors  and 
thunders.  Shall  I  call  for  a  fountain  of  tears  into  my 
eyes,  and  weep  over  them  with  the  tenderest  sympa- 
thy and  covnpassion  ?  But  they  feel  not  any  meltings 
of  pity  for  themselves,  nor  are  their  hearts  to  be  sof- 
tened by  all  our  tears  and  wailings.  Shall  I  beseech 
them  in  the  name  of  Christ  by  the  bowels  of  his  dy- 
ing love,  and  the  blood  and  anguish  of  his  sufferings 
for  our  salvation  ?  But  even  these  divine  and  aston- 
ishing instances  of  tenderness  and  mercy  make  no 
impression  on  their  souls.  While  Satan  holds  them 
in  his  chains,  they  are  sleeping  the  sleep  of  death. 
O  for  a  word  of  Sovereign  and  Almighty  Grace  to 
reach  the  centre  of  their  spirits  !  To  shake  all  the 
powers  of  their  nature!  To  awaken  them  to  behold 
their  eternal  interest!  And  to  prepare  for  heavenly 
felicity.  Awake,  O  sleepers,  ere  the  angel  of  death 
seize  you,  and  the  grave  shut  its  mouth  upon  you  ; 
then  all  your  seasons  and  hopes  of  mercy  are  cut  off 
for  ever,  and  you  will  awake  hopeless  immortals. 

I  shall  conclude  this  discourse  with  one  word  of 
exhortation  to  those  who  are  in  any  measure  wrought 
up  to  a  preparation  for  the  heavenly  blessedness.    O 


DISCOURSE  VIII.     A  SOUL  PREPARED  TOR  HEAVEN.  327 

happy  creature  !  Whatsoever  pains  you  have  taken, 
whatever  conflicts  you  have  endured  in  the  matter 
of  your  own  salvation,  yet  let  God  and  his  grace  have 
all  the  honour  of  this  work.  It  is  to  God  yon  owe 
your  sacrifices  of  praise.  *  He  that  hath  wrought 
you  up  for  this  felicity  is  God.'  It  was  he  who 
awakened  you  first,  and  set  you  a  thinking  of  your 
most  important  concerns :  It  was  he  that  led  you  fir^ 
into  the  way  of  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ  his  Son, 
and  hath  thus  far  crowned  your  labours  and  your 
prayers  with  success  and  blessing.  Every  stumbling- 
block  in  your  way  might  have  thrown  you  down  to 
perdition  :  Every  temptation  might  have  turned  you 
back  from  this  glorious  pursuit :  Every  enemy  of 
your  souls  might  have  discouraged  or  overcome  you, 
if  God  and  his  grace  had  not  been  engaged  on  your 
side. 

It  is  he  hath  upheld  you  when  you  were  falling, 
he  hath  taken  you  by  the  hand  and  led  you  right  on- 
ward  when  you  were  wandering,  and  he  hath  sup- 
ported you  by  his  divine  cordials  of  promise  when 
you  were  fainting.  It  is  God  who  hath  enabled  you 
to  maintain  your  conflict  with  all  the  mighty  obstacles 
of  your  faith  and  hope ;  it  is  his  grace  hath  renewed 
your  nature,  hath  weaned  you  from  this  vain  flatter- 
ing world,  and  given  you  a  sacred  relish  of  divine 
blessedness.  It  is  he  who  hath  formed  you  again 
after  his  own  image,  and  hath  trained  you  up,  and 
made  you  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light.  Call  up  all  your  powers  to  praise  his  good- 
ness, and  say,     **  Bless  the  Lord,   O  my  soul,  and 


328  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR    HEAVEN.     DISCOURSE    VIII. 

all  that  is  within  me,  bless  his  holy  name  :  Bless  the 
Lord  for  ever,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits."  '  It 
is  God  who  hath  called  me  out  of  darkness  into  his 
marvellous  light,  and  given  me  to  see  the  things  that 
belong  to  my  everlasting  peace.  It  is  God  who  wash- 
ed away  my  iniquities  in  the  blood  of  his  own  Son, 
and  hath  renewed  me  unto  holiness  by  his  blessed  Spi- 
rit. It  is  God  who  hath  taken  me  out  of  the  family  of 
sin  and  Satan,  and  given  me  a  place  among  his  chil- 
dren ;  who  hath  begun  to  prepare  me  for  the  joys  and 
blessings  of  heaven,  and  in  his  own  time  he  will  fulfil 
all  my  hopes,  and  complete  my  felicit)^ '  Walk  before 
him  with  all  holy  care  and  watchfulness,  and  *  take 
heed  that  you  lose  not  the  things  which  you  have 
wrought,'  nor  the  things  which  God  hath  wrought 
in  you,  but  that,  persevering  to  the  end,  <  you  may 
receive  the  full  reward,'  and  obtain  the  crown  of  ever- 
lasting life.     Amen. 


DISCOURSE  IX. 
NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED 


Rev.  xxi.  4. 

Neither  shall  there  he  any  more  pain. 

THERE  have  been  some  divines  in  ancient  times, 
as  well  as  in  our  present  age,  who  suppose  this  pro- 
phecy relates  to  some  glorious  and  happy  event  here 
on  earth,  wherein  the  saints  and  faithful  followers  of 
Christ  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  and  mise- 
ries to  which  they  have  been  exposed  in  all  former 
ages,  and  shall  enjoy  the  blessing  which  these  words 
promise.  Among  these  writers  some  have  placed 
this  happy  state  before  the  resurrection  of  the  body ; 
others  make  it  to  belong  to  that  *  first  resurrection* 
which  is  spoken  of  in  Rev.  xx.  6.  But  let  this  pro- 
phecy have  a  particular  aspect  upon  what  earthly 
period  soever,  yet  all  must  grant  it  is  certainly  true 
concerning  the  *  heavenly  state;'  from  whose  feli- 
cities, taken  in  the  literal  sense,  these  figurative 
expressions  are  derived  to  foretel  the  happiness  of 
any  period  of  the  church  in  this  world  ;  and  in  this 
sense,  as  *  part  of  our  happiness  in  heaven,'  I  shall 
understand  the  words  here,  and  propose  them  as  the 
foundation  for  my  present  discourse^ 


330  NO  PAIN  AMOxVG  THE  BLESSED.       DISCOURSE  IX. 

Among  the  many  things  that  make  this  life  uncom- 
fortable, and  render  mankind  unhappy  here  below, 
this  is  one  that  has  a  large  influence,  viz.  that  *  in 
this  mortal  state  we  are  all  liable  to  pain,'  from  which 
we  shall  be  perfectly  delivered  in  the  life  to  come. 
The  Greek  word  which  is  here  translated  pain,  sig- 
nifies also  toil  divx^  fatigue  and  excessive  labour  of  the 
body,  as  well  as  anguish  and  vexation  of  the  spirit  r 
But  since  in  the  two  other  places  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment where  it  is  used,  the  word  most  properly  signi- 
fies the  *  pain  of  the  body,'  I  presume  to  understand 
it  chiefly  in  this  sense  also  in  my  text. 

I  need  not  spend  time  in  explaining  '  what  pain  is* 
to  persons  who  dwell  in  flesh  and  blood  :  There  is 
not  one  of  you  in  this  assembly  but  is  berter  acquain- 
ted with  the  nature  of  it  by  the  sense  o^ feeling,  than 
It  is  possible  for  the  wisest  philosopher  to  inform  you 
by  all  his  learned  language.  Yet  that  I  may  proceed 
regularly,  I  would  just  give  you  this  short  descrip- 
tion of  it.  *  Pain  is  an  uneasy  perception  of  the 
soul,  occasioned  by  some  indisposition  of  the  body 
to  which  it  is  united  ;'  whether  this  arise  from  some 
disorder  or  malady  in  the  flesh  itself,  or  from  some 
injury  received  from  without  by  wounds,  bruises,  or 
any  thing  of  the  like  kind.  Now  this  sort  of  uneasy 
sensations  is  not  to  be  found  or  feared  in  heaven. 

In  order  to  make  our  present  meditations  on  this 
part  of  the  *  blessedness  of  heaven'  useful  and  joyful 
to  us  while  we  are  here  on  earth,  let  us  enquire, 

I.  What  are  the  evils  or  grand  inconveniencies  that 
generally  flow  from  the  pains  we  suffer  here  ;  and  as 


iJlSCOURSE   IX.       NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  331 

we  go  we  shall  survey  the  satisfactions   which  arise 
by  our  freedom  from  them  all  in  heaven. 

II.  What  just  and  convincing  proofs  may  be  given 
that  there  are  no  such  uneasy  sensations  to  be  felt  ia 
heaven,  or  to  be  feared  after  this  life. 

III.  What  are  the  chief  reasons  or  designs  of  the 
blessed  God  in  sending  pain  on  his  creatures  in  this 
world ;  and  at  the  same  time  I  shall  shew  that  pain 
is  banished  from  the  heavenly  state,  because  God  has 
no  such  designs  remaining  to  be  accomplished  in  that 
world. 

IV.  What  lessons  we  may  learn  from  the  painful 
discipline  which  we  feel  while  we  are  here,  in  order 
to  shew  there  is  no  need  of  such  discipline  to  teach 
tis  those  lessons  in  heaven,  let  us  address  ourselves 
to  make  these  four  enquiries  in  their  order* 

SECTION   I. 

First,  *  What  are  the  evils  which  flow  from  pain, 
and  usually  attend  it  in  this  life;'  and  all  along  as 
we  go  we  shall  take  a  short  view  of  the  heavenly 
state,  where  we  shall  be  released  from  all  these  evib 
and  inconveniencies. 

1.  *  Pain  has  a  natural  tendency  to  make  the  mind 
sorrowful  as  well  as  the  body  uneasy.'  Our  souls 
4re  so  nearly  united  to  flesh  and  blood,  that  it  is  not 
possible  for  the  mind  to  possess  perfect  happiness 
and  ease,  while  the  body  is  exposed  to  so  many 
occasions  of  pain.  It  is  granted,  that  natural  courage 
And  strength  of  heart  may  prevail  in  some  persons  to 


332  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  I^, 

bear  up  their  spirits  under  long  and  intense  pains  of 
the  flesh,   yet  they  really  take  away  so  much  of  the 
ease  and  pleasure  of  life,  while  any  of  us  lie  under 
the   acute   sensations   of  them.     Pain  will  make  us 
confess  that  we   are   flesh   and  blood,   and  force  us 
sometimes  to  cry  out  and  groan.     Even  a  stoick  in 
spite  of  all  the  pride  of  hisphilosophy,  will  sometimes 
be  forced,  by  a  sigh  or  a  groan  to  confess  himself  a 
a  man.     What  are  the   greatest  part   of  the  groans 
and  outcries  that  are  heard  all  round  this  our  globe 
of  earth  but  the  effects  of  pain,  either  felt  or  feared  ? 
But  in  heaven,  where  there  is  no  pain,  there  shall 
be  no  sighing  or  groaning,   nor  any  more  crying,  as 
my  text  expresses.     There  shall  be  nothing  to  make 
the  flesh  or  the  spirit  uneasy,  and  to  break  the  eter- 
nal  thread  of  peace  and  pleasure  that  runs  through 
the  whole  duration  of  the   saints :  Not  one   painful 
moment  to  interrupt  the   everlasting  felicity  of  that 
state.     "When  we  have  done  with  earth  and  mortality, 
we  have  done  also  with  sickness  and  anguish  of  na- 
ture, and  with  all  sorrow  and  vexation  for  ever.  There 
are  no  groans  in  the  heavenly  world  to  break  in  up- 
on the  harmony  of  the   harps  and   the  songs  of  the 
blessed  ;  no  sighs,  no  outcries,  no  anguish  there  to 
disturb  the  music  ar.d   the  joy   of  the  inhabitants. 
Aud  though   the   soul   shall  be   united  to  the  body, 
new-raised  from  the  dead,  to  dwell  for  ever  in  union, 
yet   that    new- raised    body    shall   have  neither  any 
springs  of  pain  in  it,    nor  be  capable  of  giving  an- 
guish or  uneasiness  to  the  inciwclling  spirit  for  ever. 


DISCOURSE  IX.  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  333 

2.  Another  evil  which  attends  on  pain  is  this,  that 
*  it  so  indisposes  our  nature  as  often  to  unfit  us  for 
the  businesses  and  duties  of  the  present  state.'  With 
how  much  coldness  and  indifferency  do  we  go  about 
our  daily  work,  and  perform  it  too  with  many  inter- 
ruptions, when  nature  is  burdened  with  continual 
pain,  and  the  vital  springs  of  action  are  overborne  with 
perpetual  uneasiness?  What  a  listlessness  do  we  find 
to  many  of  the  duties  of  religion  at  such  a  season, 
unless  it  be  to  run  more  frequently  to  the  throne  of 
God,  and  pour  out  our  groanings  and  our  complaints 
there  ?  Groanings  and  cries  are  the  language  of  na- 
ture, and  the  children  of  God  address  themselves 
in  this  language  to  their  heavenl}^  Father  ;  Blessed 
be  the  name  of  our  gracious  God,  who  hears  every 
secret  sigh,  who  is  acquainted  with  the  sense  of  every 
groan,  while  we  mourn  before  him,  and  make  our 
complaints  to  him,  that  we  cannot  worship  him,  nor 
work  for  him  as  we  would  do,  because  of  the  anguish 
and  maladies  of  nature. 

And  what  an  indisposition  and  backwardness  do 
we  feel  in  ourselves  to  fulfil  many  of  the  duties  to- 
wards our  fellow  creatures  while  we  ourselves  are  un- 
der present  smart  and  anguish  ?  Pain  will  so  sensi- 
bly affect  self  as  to  draw  off  all  our  thoughts  thi- 
ther, and  centre  them  there,  that  we  cannot  so  much 
employ  our  cares  and  our  active  powers  for  the  be- 
nefit of  our  neighbours  :  It  abates  our  concern  for 
our  friends,  and  while  it  awakens  the  spirit  within 
us  into  keen  sensations,  it  takes  away  the  activity 
of  the  man  that  feels  it  from  almost  all  the  services 

IT    2 


334  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  DISCOURSE  IX. 

of  human  life.     When  human  nature  bears  so  much 
it  can  act  but  little. 

But  what  a  blessed  state  will  that  be  when  we  shall 
never  feel  this  indisposition  to  duties,  either  human 
or  divine,    through   any   uneasiness    of  the  body  I 
When  we  shall  never  more  be   subject  to   any  of 
these  painful  impediments,  but  for  ever  cast  off  all 
those  clogs  and  burdens  which  fetter  the  active  pow- 
ers of  the  soul  ?   Then  we  shall  be  joyfully  employ- 
ed in  such  unknown  and  glorious  services   to  God 
our   Father,   and  to  the   blessed  Jesus,    as  require 
much  superior  capacities  to  what  w^e  here  possess, 
and  shall  find  no  weakness,  no  weariness,  no  pain 
throughout  all  the  years  of  our  immortality,  Rev.  vii. 
15.     None  of  the  blessed  above  are  at  rest  or  idle, 
cither  **  day  or  night,  but  they  serve  him  in  his  tem- 
ple," and  never  cease,  and  iv.  8.     No  faintness,  no 
languors  are  known  there.    The  **  inhabitants  of  that 
land  shall  not  say,  I  am  sick  :"  Everlasting  vigour, 
cheerfulness  and  ease  shall  render  every  blessed  soul 
for  ever  zealous  and  active  in  obedience,  as  the  an- 
gels are  in  heaven. 

3.  *  Pain  unfits  us  for  the  enjoyments  of  life^  as 
well  as  for  the  labours  and  duties  of  it.'  It  takes 
away  all  the  pleasing-  satisfactions  which  might  at- 
tend our  circumstances,  and  renders  the  objects  of 
them  insipid  and  unrelishing.  What  pleasure  can  a 
rich  man  take  in  all  the  affluence  of  earthly  blessings 
around  him,  while  some  painful  distemper  holds  him 
upon  the  rack,  and  distresses  him  with  the  torture  > 
How  little  delight  can  he  find  in  meats  or  in  drinks 
which  are  prepared  for  luxury  when  sharp  pain  calls 


DISCOURSE  IX.  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  335 

all  his  attention  to  the  diseased  part  ?  What  joy  can 
he  find  in  magnificent  buildings,  in  gay  and  shining 
furniture,  in  elegant  gardens,  or  in  all  the  glilter- 
ing  treasures  of  the  Indies,   when  the  gout  torments 
his  hands  and  his  feet,  or  the  rheumatism  afflicts  his 
limbs  with  intense  anguish  ?   If  pain  attacks  any  part 
of  the  body  and  rises  to  a  high  degree,  the  luxuries 
of  life  grow  tasteless,  and  life  itself  is  embittered  to 
us  :   Or  when  pains  less  acute  are  prolonged  through 
weeks  and  months,  and  perhaps  stick  in  our  flesh  all 
the  night  as  well  as  in  the  day  ;  how  vain  and  feeble 
are  all  the  efforts  of  the  bright  and  gay  things  around 
us  to  raise  the  soul  into  cheerfulness  ?  Therefore  So- 
lomon calls  old  age  the  "  years  wherein  there  is  no 
pleasure,"  Eccles.    xii.  1.     Because  so  many  aches 
and  ails  in  that  season  pursue  us  in  a  continual  suc- 
cession ;  so  many  infirmities  and  painful  hours  at- 
tend us  usually  in  that  stage  of  life,  even  in  the  best 
situation  that  mortality  can  boast  of,  as  cuts  oflP  and 
destroys  all  our  pleasures. 

But  O  what  a  wondrous,  what  a  joyful  change 
shall  that  be,  when  the  soul  is  commanded  to  forsake 
this  flesh  and  blood,  when  it  rises  as  on  the  wings  of 
angels  to  the  heavenly  world,  and  leaves  every  pain 
behind  it,  together  widi  the  body  in  the  arms  of  death? 
And  what  a  more  illustrious  and  delightful  change 
shall  we  meet  in  the  great  rising  day,  when  our  bo- 
dies shall  start  up  out  of  the  dust  with  vigorous  im- 
mortality, and  without  any  spring  or  seat  of  pain  ^ 
All  the  unknown  enjoyments  with  which  heaven  is 
furnished,  shall  be  taken  in  by  the  enlarged  powers 


336  KO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.         DlSCOUkSE    IX. 

of  the  soul  with  intense  pleasure,  and  not  a  moment's 
pain  shall  ever  interrupt  them. 

4.  Another  inconvenience  and  evil  which  belongs 
to  pain  is,  that  '  it  makes  time  and  life  itself  appear 
tedious  and  tiresome,  and  adds  a  new  burden  to  all 
other  grievances*'  Many  evidences  of  this  trfith  are 
scattered  throughout  all  nature,  and  on  all  sides  of 
this  globe.  There  is  not  one  age  of  mankind  but 
can  furnish  us  with  millions  of  instances.  In  what 
melanchply  language  does  Job  discover  his  sensations 
of  the  tiresome  nature  of  pain  ?  **  I  am  made  to  pos- 
sess months  of  vanity,  and  wearisome  nights  are  ap- 
pointed to  me:  When  I  lie  down  I  say,  when  shall 
I  rise  and  the  night  be  gone  ?  And  I  am  full  of  toss- 
ing to  and  fro  unto  the  dawning  of  the  day,"  Job  vii. 
3.  When  pain  takes  hold  of  our  flesh,  it  seems  to 
stretch  the  measures  of  time  to  a  tedious  length:  We 
cry  out  as  Moses  expresses  it,  Deut.  xxviii.  67.  **  In 
the  morning  we  say,  would  to  God  it  were  evening; 
and  at  the  return  of  the  evening  we  say  again,  w^ould 
to  God  it  were  morning." 

Long  are  those  hours  indeed,  whether  of  day- 
light or  darkness,  wherein  there  is  no  relief  or  inter- 
mission of  acute  pain.  How  tiresome  a  thing  is  it  to 
count  the  clock  at  midnight  in  long  successions,  and 
to  wait  every  hour  for  the  distant  approach  of  morn- 
ing, while  our  eyes  are  unable  to  close  themselves 
in  slumber,  and  our  anguish  admits  not  the  common 
refuge  of  sleep.  There  are  multitudes  among  the 
race  of  mortals  who  have  known  these  truths  by  sore 


DISCOURSE  IX.       NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.         ^  33r 

experience.     Blessed  be  God  that  we  do  not  always 
feel  them. 

But  when  we  turn  our  thoughts  to  the  heavenly- 
world,  where  there  is  no  pain,  there  we  shall  fmd  no 
weary  hours,  no  tedious  days,  though  eternity  with 
all  its  unmeasurable  lengths  of  duration  lies  before 
us.  What  a  dismal  thought  is  eternal  pain  ?  The 
very  mention  of  it  makes  nature  shudder  and  stand 
aghast ;  but  futurity  with  all  its  endless  years,  in  a 
land  of  peace  and  pleasure  gives  the  soul  the  most 
delightful  prospect,  for  there  is  no  shadow  of  un- 
easiness in  that  state  to  render  our  abode  there  tire- 
some, or  to  think  the  ages  of  it  long. 

5.  Another  evil  that  belongs  to  pain  is,  that  *  it  has 
an  unhappy  tendency  to  ruffle  the  passions,  and  to 
render  us  fretful  and  peevish  within  ourselves,  as  well 
as  towards  those  who  are  round  about  us.'  Even  the 
kindest  and  the  tenderest  hand  that  ministers  to  our 
relief,  can  hardly  secure  itself  from  the  peevish  quar- 
rels of  a  man  in  extreme  pain. 

Not  that  we  are  to  suppose  that  this  peevish  hu- 
mour, this  fretfulness  of  spirit  are  thereby  made  inno- 
cent and  perfectly  excused  :  No,  by  no  merns ;  but 
it  must  be  acknowledged  still  that  continuance  in  pain 
is  too  ready  to  work  up  the  spirit  into  frequent  dis- 
quietude and  eagerness :  We  are  tempted  to  fret  at 
every  thing,  we  quarrel  with  every  thing,  we  grow 
impatient  under  every  delay,  angry  with  our  best 
friends,  sharp  and  sudden  in  our  resentments,  with 
wrathful  speeches  breaking  out  of  our  lips. 


338  4  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  IX. 

'  This  peevish  humour  in  a  day  of  pain  is  so  com- 
mon  a  fault,  that  I  fear  it  is  too  much  excused  and 
indulged.  Let  me  rather  say  with  myself,  *  My  God 
is  now  putting  me  to  the  trial  what  sort  of  Christian 
lam,  and  how  much  I  have  learnt  of  self  govern- 
ment, and  through  his  grace  I  will  subdue  my  uneasy 
passions,  though  I  cannot  relieve  my  pain.'  O  it  is 
a  noble  point  of  honour  gained  in  a  sick  chamber,  or 
on  a  bed  of  anguish,  to  lie  pressed  with  extreme  pain, 
and  yet  maintain  a  serenity  and  cahnness  of  soul;  to 
be  all  meekness  and  gentleness  and  patience  among 
our  friends  or  attendants,  under  the  sharp  twinges  of 
it ;  to  utter  no  rude  or  angry  language,  and  to  take 
every  thing  kindly  that  they  say  or  do,  and  ''  become 
hke  a  wean^rd  child."  But  such  a  character  is  not 
found  in  every  house. 

A  holy  soul,  through  the  severity  of  pain,  may 
sometimes  in  such  an  hour  be  too  much  ruffled  by 
violent  and  sudden  fits  of  impatience.  This  proceed- 
ed to  such  a  degree  even  in  that  good  man  Job,  un- 
der his  various  calamities  and  the  sore  boils  upon  his 
flesh,  that  it  made  him  ** curse  the  day  wherein  he  was 
born,"  rnd  cry  out  in  the  anguish  of  his  spirit,  ''  my 
soul  chooseth  strangling  and  death  rather  than  life," 
Job  iii.  and  vii.  15.  and  there  have  been  several  in- 
stances of  those  who,  having  not  the  fear  of  God  be- 
fore their  eyes,  with  hasty  violence  and  murderous 
hands  have  put  an  end  to  their  own  lives,  through  their 
wild  and  sinful  impatience  of  constant  pain. 

But  these  trials  are  for  ever  finished  when  this  life 
expires  :  Then  all  our  pains  are  ended  for  ever  if  we 


DISCOURSE  IX.       HO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  339 

are  found  among  the  children  of  God.  There  is  not^ 
nor  can  be  any  temptation  in  heaven,  to  fretfuhiess 
or  disquietude  of  mind:  All  thov peevish  passions  are 
dropped  into  the  grave,  together  with  the  body  of 
flesh;  and  those  evil  humours  which  were  the  sources 
of  smart  and  anguish  here  on  earth  have  no  place  m 
the  new-raised  body  :  Those  irregular  juices  of  animal 
nature  w  hich  tormented  the  nerves,  and  excited  pain 
in  the  flesh,  and  which  at  the  same  time  provoked 
choler  and  irritated  the  spirit,  are  never  found  in  the 
heavenly  mansions.  There  is  nothing  but  peace  and 
pleasure,  jt)y  and  love,  goodness  and  benevolence, 
ease  and  satisfaction  diffused  through  all  the  regions 
on  high :  There  are  no  inward  springs  of  uneasiness 
to  ruffle  the  mind,  none  of  those  fretful  ferments 
which  were  wont  to  kindle  in  the  mortal  body,  and 
explode  themselves,  with  fire  and  thunder  upon  every 
supposed  offence,  or  even  sometimes  without  provo- 
cation. O  happy  state  and  blessed  mansions  of  the 
saints,  when  this  body  of  sin  shall  be  destroyed,  and 
all  the  restless  atoms  that  disquieted  the  flesh  and  pro- 
voked the  spirit  to  impatience,  shall  be  buried  in  the 
dust  of  death,  and  never,  never  rise  again  T 

6.  '  Pain  carries  a  temptation  with  it,  sometimes 
toj-epine  and  murmur  at  the  providence  of  God.' 
Not  fellow-creatures  alone,  but  even  our  sovereign 
Creator  comes  within  the  reach  of  the  peevish  hu- 
mours, which  are  alarmed  and  roused  by  sharp  or 
continual  pain.  Jonah  the  prophet,  when  he  felt  the 
sultry  heat  of  the  sun  smite  fiercely  upon  him,  and 
the  gourd  which   gave  him  a  friendly  shadow  was 


340  NO  PAIN  AMON.G  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  IX, 

withered  away,  he  told  God  himself  in  a  passion ^ 
that  **  he  did  well  to  be  angry,  even  unto  death, '- 
Jonah  iv.  9.  And  even  the  man  of  Uz,  the  pattern 
of  patience,  was  sometimes  transported  with  the 
smart  and  maladies  that  were  upon  him,  so  that  he 
complained  against  God  as  well  as  complained  to 
him,  and  used  some  very  unbecoming  expressions 
towards  his  Maker.  When  we  are  under  the  smart- 
ing rebukes  of  Providence,  we  are  ready  to  compare 
ourselves  with  others  who  are  in  peace,  and  then  the 
envious  and  the  murmuring  humour  breaks  out  into 
rebellious  language,  "  Why  am  I  thus  afflicted  more 
than  others?  Why  hast  thou  set  me  as  a  mark  for 
thine  arrows  ?  Why  dost  thou  not  let  loose  thy  hand 
and  cut  me  off  from  the  earth  ?" 

But  in  heaven  there  is  a  glorious  reverse  of  all  such 
unhappy  scenes:  There  is  no  pain  nor  any  tempta- 
tion to  murmur  at  the  dealings  of  the  Almighty: 
There  is  nothing  that  can  incline  us  to  think  hardly  of 
God:  The  days  of  chastisement  are  for  ever  ended, 
and  painful  discipline  shall  be  used  no  more.  We 
shall  live  for  ever  in  the  embraces  of  the  love  of  God, 
and  he  shall  be  the  object  of  our  everlasting  praise^ 
Perfect  felicity  without  the  interruption  of  one  un- 
easy thought,  for  ever  forbids  the  inhabitants  of  that 
w^orld  to  repine  at  their  situation  under  the  eternal 
smiles  of  that  blessed  Being  that  made  them. 

7.  To  add  no  more,  '  pain  and  anguish  of  the  flesh 
have  sometimes  prevailed  so  far  as  to  distract  the 
mind  as  well  as  destroy  the  body.'  It  has  overpow- 
ered all  the  reasoning  faculties  of  man,  it  has  destroy 


DISCOURSE  IX.       NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  ,'^41 

ed  natural  life,  and  brought  it  down  to  the  grave : 
The  senses  have  been  confounded,  and  the  under- 
standing overwhelmed  with  severe  and  racking  pain, 
especially  where  there  hath  been  an  impatient  temper 
to  contest  with  them.  Extreme  smart  of  the  fiesh 
distresses  feeble  nature,  and  turns  the  whole  frame 
of  it  upside  down  in  wild  confusion  :  It  has  actually- 
worn  out  this  animal  frame,  and  stopped  all  the 
springs  of  vital  motion.  The  gout  and  the  stone 
have  brought  death  upon  the  patient  in  this  manner; 
and  a  dreadful  manner  of  dying  it  is,  to  have  breath, 
and  life  and  nature  cjuite  oppressed  and  destroyed 
with  intense  and  painful  sensations. 

But  when  we  survey  the  mansions  of  the  heavenly 
world,  we  shall  find  none  of  these  evils  there:  No 
danger  of  any  such  events  as  these  ;  for  there  is  no 
pain,  no  sorrow,  no  crying,  no  death  nor  destruction 
there.  The  mind  shall  be  for  ever  clear  and  serene 
in  the  ease  and  happiness  of  the  separate  state  :  And 
when  the  body  shall  be  raised  again,  that  glorified 
body,  as  was  intimated  a  little  before,  shall  have  none 
of  the  seeds  of  distemper  in  it,  no  ferments  that  can 
rack  the  nerves,  or  create  anguish;  no  fever,  or  gout, 
or  stone,  v/as  ever  known  in  that  country,  no  head- 
ach  or  heart-ach  have  ascended  thither. 

That  body  also  shall  be  capable  of  no  outward 
wounds  nor  bruises,  for  it  is  raised  only  for  happiness, 
and  leaves  all  the  causes  of  pain  behind  it.  It  is  a 
body  made  for  immortality  and  pleasure;  there  the 
sickly  Christian  is  delivered  from  all  the  maladies  of 
the  liesh,  and  the  twinges  of  acute  pain  which  made 

X  2 


342  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  IJC. 

him  groan  here  on  earth  night  and  day.  There  the 
martyrs  of  the  religion  of  Jesus,  and  all  the  holy  con- 
fessors  are  free  from  their  cruel  tormentors,  thos^ 
surly  executioners  of  heathen  fury,  or  anti-christian 
wrath  :  They  are  for  ever  released  from  racks,  and 
wheels,  and  fires,  and  every  engine  of  torture  and 
smart.  Immortal  ease  and  unfading  health  and  cheer-- 
fulness  run  through  their  eternal  state,  and  all  the 
powers  of  the  man  are  composed  for  the  most  regular 
exercises  of  devotion  and  divine  joy. 

Thus  1  have  endeavoured  briefly  to  set  the  differ- 
ent  states  of  heaven  and  earth  before  you  under  this 
distinguishing  character,  that  *  4II  the  tempting,  the 
distressing  and  mischievous  attendants  and  conse- 
quences of  pain'  to  which  we  are  exposed  in  our  mor- 
tal life,  are  for  ever  banished  from  the  heavenly 
world. 

SECTION  II. 

The 'second  general  enquiry'  was  this,  *  What 
just  and  convincing  arguments  or  proofs  can  be  given, 
that  there  are  no  pains  or  uneasy  sensations  to  be 
felt  by  the  saints  in  a  future  state,  nor  to  be  feared 
after  this  life?' 

My  answers  to  this  question  shall  be  very  few  ; 
because  I  think  the  thing  must  be  sufficiently  evident 
to  those  who  believe  the  New  Testament,  and  have 
liberty  to  read  it. 

First  argument.  '  God  has  assured  us  so  in  his 
V,  ord,  that  there  is  no  pain  for  holy  souls  to  endure 


.DISCOURSE  IX»      NO  PAtNT  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  345 

in  the  world  to  come  : '  My  text  may  be  esteemed  a 
sufficient  proof  of  it ;  for  whatsoever  particular  event 
or  period  of  the  church  on  earth  this  prophecy  may 
refer  to,  yet  the  description  is  borrowed  from  the 
blessedness  of  heaven  ;  and  if  there  shall  be  any  such 
state  on  earth,  much  more  will  it  be  so  in  the  hea- 
venly world,  whereas  that  period  on  earth  is  but  a 
shadow  and  emblem.  We  are  expressly  told,  Rev. 
xiv.  8.  in  order  to  encourage  the  persecuted  saints 
and  martyrs,  '*  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the 
Lord  from  henceforth,  for  they  rest  from  their  labours, 
(or  pains)  and  their  works  follow  them;"  i.  e.  in  a 
way  of  gracious  recompence. 

It  is  granted  indeed  by  the  Papists  themselves,  that 
in  heaven  there  is  no  pain;  yet  they  suppose  there 
are  many  and  grievous  pains  for  the  soul  to  undergo 
in  a  place  called  purgatory^  after  the  death  of  the 
body,  before  it  arrives  at  heaven. 

But  give  me  leave  to  ask,  does  not  St.  Paul  ex* 
press  himself  with  confidence  concerning  himself  and 
his  fellow  Christians — "that  they  shall  be  present 
with  the  Lord  when  they  are  absent  from  the  body," 
2  Cor.  V.  8.  Surely  the  state  wherein  Christ  our 
Lord  dwells  after  all  his  sufferings  and  agonies,  is  a 
•state  of  everlasting  ease  without  suffering;  and  shall 
not  his  followers  dwell  with  him?  Do  we  not  read 
in  the  parable  of  our  Saviour,  Luke  xvi.  22.  that 
J^azarus  was  no  sooner  dead,  but  *'his  soul  was  car- 
ried by  angels  into  the  bosom  of  Abraham,"  or  para- 
dise ?  Every  holy  soul  wherein  the  work  of  grace  is 
begun,   and  sin  liath  received  its  mortal  wound,   is 


344  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.       DISCOURSE    IX, 

perfectly  sanctified  when  it  is  released  from  this  body ; 
and  it  puts  off  the  body  of  sin  and  the  body  of  flesh 
together,  for  "  nothing  that  defileth  must  enter  into" 
paradise  or  the  heavenly  state. 

The  word  of  God  has  appointed  but  two  states, 
viz.  hca-^en  and  hcll^  for  the  reception  of  all  mankind 
when  they  depart  from  this  world:  And  how  vain  a 
thing  must  it  be  for  men  to  invent  a  third  state y  and 
make  a  purgatory  of  it  ?  This  is  a  building  erected 
by  the  church  of  Rome  between  heaven  and  hell,  and 
prepared  by  their  wild  imagination  for  souls  of  imper- 
fect virtue,  to  be  tormented  there  with  pains  equal  to 
those  of  hell,  but  of  shorter  duration.  This  state  of 
fiery  purgation,  and  extreme  anguish,  is  devised  by 
that  mother  of  lies,  partly  under  a  pretence  of  com- 
pleting the  penances  and  satisfactions  for  the  sms  of 
men  committed  in  this  life,  and  partly  also  to  purify 
and  refine  their  souls  from  all  the  remaining  dregs  of 
sin,  and  to  fill  up  their  virtues  to  perfection,  that  they 
may  be  fit  for  the  immediate  presence  of  God.  But 
does  not  the  Scripture  sufficiently  inform  us,  that 
the^atonement  or  satisfaction  of  Christ  for  sin  is  full 
and  complete  in  itself,  and  needs  none  of  our  additions 
in  this  world  or  another  ?  Does  not  the  Apostle  John 
tell  us,  1st  epist.  chap.  i.  ver.  7.  "  The  blood  of  Je- 
sus Christ  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin  ?"  Nor  shall  the 
saints  after  this  life  sin  any  more,  to  require  any  new 
atonement;  nor  do  they  carry  the  seeds  of  sin  to  hea- 
ven with  them,  but  drop  them  together  with  the  flesh, 
and  all  the  sources  of  pain  together:  Now  since  nei- 
ther Christ  nor  his  apostles  give  us  any  intimation  of 


DISCOURSE  IX.       NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  345 

isuch  a  place  as  purgatory  for  the  refinement  or  puri- 
fication of  souls  after  this  life,  we  have  no  ground  to 
hearken  to  such  a  fable. 

The  second  argument  is  this  :  *  God  has  not  pro- 
vided any  medium  to  convey  pain  to  holy  souls  after 
they  have  dropped  this  body  of  flesh.'  They  are  par- 
doned, they  are  sanctified,  they  are  accepted  of  God 
for  ever;  and  since  they  are  in  no  danger  of  sinning 
afresh  by  the  influences  of  corrupt  flesh  and  blood, 
therefore  they  are  in  no  fear  of  suflfering  any  thing 
^thereby.  And  if,  as  some  divines  have  supposed, 
there  should  be  any  pure  aethereal  bodies  or  vehicles 
provided  for  h.oly  separate  spirits,  when  departed 
from  this  grosser  tabernacle  of  flesh  and  blood,  yet 
it  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  God  of  all  grace  would 
mix  up  any  seeds  of  pain  with  that  gethereal  matter, 
which  is  to  be  the  occasional  habitation  of  sanctified 
spirits  in  that  state,  nor  that  he  would  make  any 
avenues  or  doors  of  entrance  for  pain  into  these  re- 
fined vehicles,  when  the  state  of  their  sinning  and 
their  trial  is  for  ever  finished. 

Nor  will  the  body  at  the  final  resurrection  of  the 
saints  be  made  for  a  medium  of  any  painful  sen- 
sations. All  the  pains  of  nature  are  ended,  when 
the  first  union  between  flesh  and  spirit  is  dissolved. 
When  this  body  lies  down  to  sleep  in  the  dust,  it 
shall  never  awake  again  with  any  of  the  principles  oi 
sin  or  pain  in  it :  Though  *'  it  be  sown  in  weakness. 
it  is  raised  in  power;  though  it  be  sown  in  dishon- 
9ur,  it  is  raised  in  glory  ;"  and  we  shall  be  made  like 


S46  tfp  PAIN  AMOKG  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE    IX. 

the  Son  of  God  without  sorrow  and  without  sin  for 
ever. 

3d.  Argument.  *  There  are  no  moral  causes  or 
reasons  why  there  should  be  any  thing  of  pain  pro- 
vided for  the  heavenly  state.'  And  if  there  be  no 
moral  reasons  for  it,  surely  God  will  not  provide 
pains  for  his  creatures  without  reason  !  But  this 
thought  leads  me  to  the  next  general  head  of  my  dis- 
course, 

SECTION    III. 

The  third  general  enquiry  which  I  proposed  to 
make  was  this,  *  What  may  be  the  chief  moral  rea- 
sons, motives,  or  designs  of  the  blessed  God  in  send- 
ing pain  on  his  creatures  here  below ;  and  at  the  same 
time  I  shall  shew  that  these  designs  and  purposes  of 
God  are  fmished,  and  they  have  no  place  in  heaven.' 

1st,  Then,  *  pain  is  souTetimes  sent  into  our  na- 
tures to  awaken  slothful  and  drowsy  Christians  out 
of  their  spiritual  slumbers,  or  to  rouse  stupid  sin- 
ners from  a  state  of  spiritual  death.'  Intense  and 
sharp  pain  of  the  flesh  has  oftentimes  been  the  ap- 
pointed and  effectual  means  of  providence  to  attain 
these  desirable  ends. 

Pain  is  like  a  rod  in  the  hand  of  God,  wherewith  he 
smites  sinners  that  are  dead  in  their  trespasses,  and 
his  Spirit  joins  with  it  to  awaken  them  into  spiritual 
life.  Tills  rod  is  sometimes  so  smarting  and  severe, 
that  it  will  make  a  senseless  and  ungodly  wretch  look 
upwards  to  the  hand  ibat  sOiites  it,  and  take  notiQe 


DISCOURSE  IX.      NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  24^ 

of  the  rebuke  of  heaven,  though  all  the  thundering 
and  lightnhig  of  the  word,  and  all  the  terrors  of  hell 
denounced  there,  could  not  awaken  him. 

Acute  pain  is  also  a  common  instrument  in  our 
heavenly  Father's  hand,  to  recover  backsliding  saints 
from  their  secure  and  drowsy  frames  of  spirit.  David 
often  found  it  so,  and  speaks  it  plainly  in  the  38th 
and  39th  Psalms  ;  and  in  Psalm  cxix.  67.  he  con- 
fesses, '*  before  I  was  afflicted  I  went  astray  ;"  but 
when  he  had  felt  the  scourge,  he  learat  to  obey,  and 
to   '  keep  the  word  of  his  God.' 

But  there  is  'no  need  of  this  discipline  in  heaven  :'* 
No  need  of  this  smarting  scourge  to  make  dead  sin- 
ners feel  their  Maker's  hand,  in  order  to  rouse  them 
into  life,  for  there  are  no  such  inhabitants  in  that 
w^orld:  Nor  is  there  any  need  of  such  divine  and  pater- 
nal discipline  of  God  in  those  holy  mansions,  where 
there  is  no  drowsy  Christian  to  be  awakened,  no 
wandering  spirit  that  wants  to  be  reduced  to  duty  : 
And  v/here  the  designs  of  such  smarting  strokes  have 
no  place,  pain  itself  must  be  for  ever  banished;  for 
'  God  does  not  willingly  afflict,  nor  take  delight  in 
grieving  the  children  of  men,'  without  substantial 
reasons  for  it. 

2.  Another  use  of  bodily  pain  and  anguish  in  this 
world  is,  *  to  punish  men  for  their  faulty  and  follies, 
to  make  them  know  what  an  evil  and  bitter  thing  it 
is  to  sin  against  God,  and  diereby  to  guard  them 
against  new  temptations,'  Jer.  ii.  19.  *'  Thy  own 
wickedness  shall  correct  thee,  and  thy  backsliding 
shall  reprove  thee;"  i,  e.  by  means  of  the  smartini^ 


S48  NO  PAIN"  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  Ia, 

chastisements  they  bring  upon  men.  When  God 
makes  the  sinner  taste  of  the  fruit  of  his  own  ways,  he 
makes  others  also  observe  how  hateful  a  thing  every 
sin  is  in  the  sight  of  God,  which  he  thinks  fit  so  ter- 
ribly to  punish. 

This  is  one  general  reason  why  special  diseases, 
maladies,  and  plagues  are  spread  over  a  whole  nation, 
viz.  to  punish  the  sins  of  the  inhabitants,  when  they 
have  provoked  God  by  public  and  spreading  iniqui- 
ties. War  and  famine  with  all  their  terrible  train 
of  anguish  and  agony,  and  the  dying  pains  which 
they  diffuse  over  a  kingdom,  are  rods  of  punish- 
ment  in  the  hand  of  God,  die  Governor  of  the 
world,  to  declare  from  heaven  and  earth  his  indigna- 
tion against  an  ungodly  and  an  unrighteous  age. 

This  indeed  is  one  design  of  the  pains  and  tor- 
ments of  hell,  where  God  inflicts  pain  without  inter- 
mission; And  this  is  sometimes  the  purpose  of  God 
in  his  painful  providences  here  on  earth:  Shall  I  rise 
vet  higher  and  say,  that  this  was  one  great  design  in 
the  eye  of  God,  ''  when  it  pleased  the  Father  to  bruise'' 
his  best  beloved  Son,  and  put  him  under  the  impres- 
sions of  extreme  pain,  viz.  to  discover  to  the  world 
the  abominable  evil  th^t  v;as  in  sin  ?  while  Jesviy 
stood  in  the  stead  of  sinners,  then  *'  his  soul  was  ex- 
ceeding scrjiowful  even  to  death,  and  he  sweat  drops 
of  blood"  under  the  pressure  of  his  agonies,  to  let 
the  world  see  what  the  sin  of  man  had  deserved: 
And  sometimes  God  smites  his  own  children  in  this 
world  with  smarting  strokes  of  correction,  when  they 
have  indulged  any  iniquity,  to  shew  the  world  that 


DISCOURSE  IX.  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  349 

God  hates  sin  in  his  own  people  wheresoever  he  finds 
it,  and  to  bring  his  children  back  again  to  the  path^ 
of  righteousness. 

But  *  in  the  heavenly  state,  there  are  no  fiiults  to 
punish,  no  follies  to  chastise.'  Jesus,  our  Surety  in 
the  days  of  his  flesh,  has  suffered  those  sorrows  which 
made  atonement  for  sin,  and  that  anguish  of  his  holy 
soul,  and  the  blood  of  his  cross,  have  satisfied  the  de- 
mands of  God ;  so  that  with  honour  he  can  pardon 
ten  thousand  penitent  criminals,  and  provide  an  in- 
heritance of  ease  and  blessedness  for  them  for  ever. 
When  once  we  are  dismissed  from  this  body,  the  spi- 
rit is  thoroughly  sanctified,  and  there  is  no  fire  of 
purgatory  needful  to  burn  out  the  remains  of  sin : 
Those  foolish  ir^j^ented  flames  are  but  false  fire,  kin- 
dled by  the  priests  of  Rome  to  fright  the  souls  of  the 
dying,  and  to  squeeze  money  out  of  them  to  purchase 
so  many  vain  and  idle  masses  to  relieve  the  souls  of 
the  dead.  Upon  our  actual  release  from  this  flesh 
and  blood,  neither  the  guilt  nor  the  power  of  sin  shall 
attend  the  saints  in  their  flight  to  heaven  :  AH  the 
spirits  that  arrive  there  are  made  perfect  in  holiness 
without  new  scourges,  and  commence  a  state  of  feli- 
city that  shall  never  be  interrupted. 

3.  God  has  appointed  pain  in  this  world,  '  to  exer- 
cise and  try  the  virtues  and  the  graces  of  his  people.' 
As  gold  is  throv/n  into  the  fire  to  prove  and  try  how 
pure  it  is  from  any  coarse  alloy,  so  the  children  of 
God  are  sometimes  left  for  a  season  in  the  furnace  of 
sufferings,  partly  to  refine  them  from  their  dross,  and 

Y    2 


350  no  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.         DISCOURSE  IX^ 

partly  to  discover  their  purity  and  their  substantial 
weight  and  worth. 

Sometimes  *  God  lays  smarting  pain  with  his  own 
hand'  on  the  flesh  of  his  people,  on  purpose  to  try 
their  graces :  When  we  endure  the  pain  without  mur» 
muring  at  Providence,  then  it  is  we  come  off  con- 
querors. Christian  submission  and  silence  under 
the  hand  of  God,  is  one  way  to  victory.  "I  was 
dumb,"  says  David,  **  and  opened  not  my  mouth,  be» 
cause  thou  didst  it,"  Psal.  xxxix.  Our  love  to  God, 
our  resignation  to  his  will,  our  holy  fortitude  and  our 
patience  find  a  proper  trial  in  such  smarting  seasons. 
Perhaps  when  some  severe  pain  first  seizes  and  sur- 
prises us,  we  find  ourselves  *  like  a  wild  bull  in  a 
net,'  and  all  the  powers  of  nature  ,are  thrown  into 
tumult  and  disquietude,  so  that  we  have  no  posses- 
sion of  our  own  spirits ;  but  when  the  hand  of  God 
has  continued  us  awhile  under  this  divine  discipline, 
we  learn  to  bow  down  to  his  sovereignty,  we  lie  at 
his  footstool  calm  and  composed :  He  brings  our 
haughty  and  reluctant  spirits  down  to  his  foot,  and 
makes  us  lie  humble  in  the  dust,  and  we  wait  with 
patience  the  hour  of  his  release.  Rom.  v.  3,  4.  '  Tri« 
bulation  worketh  patience,  and  patience'  under  tribu^ 
lati'on  '  gives  us  experience'  of  the  dealings  of  God 
with  his  people,  and  makes  our  way  to  a  confirmed 
^jope  in  his  love.  The  evidence  of  our  various  graces 
grows  brighter  and  stronger  under  a  smarting  rod, 
till  we  are  settled  in  a  joyful  confidence,  and  the  soui 
rests  in  God  himself. 


DISCOURSE  I.X.  1^0  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  351 

Sometimes  he  has  *  permitted  evil  angels  to  put 
the  flesh  to  pain,'  for  the  trial  of  his  children ;  so 
**  Job  was  smitten  with  sore  boils  from  head  to  foot'* 
by  the  malice  of  Satan,  at  the  permission  of  God ; 
but  **  he  knows  the  way  that  I  take,"  says  this  holy 
man,  **  and  when  he  has  tried  me  I  shall  come  forth 
as  gold ;  for  my  foot  hath  held  his  steps"  through  all 
these  trials,  '*  neither  have  I  gone  back  from  the  com- 
mandments of  his  lips,"  Job.  xxii.  10,  12. 

At  other  times  *  he  suffers  wicked  men  to  spend 
their  own  malice,  and  to  inflict  dreadful  pains  on  his 
own  children:'  Look  back  to  the  years  of  ancient  per- 
secution in  the  land  of  Israel,  under  Jewish  or  heathen 
tyrants ;  review  the  annals  of  Great  Britain ;  look 
over  the  seas  into  popish  kingdoms;  take  a  view  of 
the  cursed  courts  of  inquisition  in  Spain,  Portugal, 
and  Italy ;  behold  the  weapons,  the  scourges,  the 
racks,  the  machines  of  torture  and  engines  of  cruelty, 
devised  by  the  barbarous  and  inhuman  wit  of  men, 
to  constrain  the  saints  to  renounce  their  faith,  and 
dishonour  their  Saviour.  See  the  slow  fires  where 
the  martyrs  have  been  roasted  to  death  with  linger- 
ing torment :  These  are  seasons  of  terrible  trial  in- 
deed, whereby  the  malice  of  Satan  and  Antichrist 
would  force  the  servants  of  God,  and  the  followers  of 
the  Lamb,  into  sinful  compliances  with  their  idolatry, 
or  a  desertion  of  their  post  of  duty  :  But  the  spirit 
of  God  has  supported  his  children  to  bear  a  glorious 
testimony  to  pure  and  undefiled  religion;  and  they 
have  seemed  to  mock  the  rage  of  their  tormentors, 
to  defy  all  the  stings  of  pain,   and  triumphed  over 


352  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.         DISCOURSE   IX, 

their  vain  attempts,  to  compel  them  to  sin  against 
their  God. 

One  would  sometimes  be  ready  to  wonder,  that  a 
God  of  infinite  mercy  and  compassion  should  suffer 
his  own  dear  children  to  be  tried  in  so  terrible  a  man- 
ner as  this ;  but  unsearchable  wisdom  is  with  him, 
and  he  does  not  give  an  account  to  men  of  all  the 
reasons  and  the  rules  of  his  conduct.  This  has  been 
his  method  of  providence  with  his  saints  at  especial 
seasons,  under  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian  dispen- 
sations, and  perhaps  under  all  the  dispensations 
of  God  to  men,  from  the  days  of  Cain  and  Abel 
to  the  present  hour.  Our  blessed  Lord  has  given 
us  many  warnings  of  it  in  his  word  by  his  own 
mouth,  and  by  all  his  three  Apostles,  Paul,  Peter  and 
John:  "They  that  will  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus 
shall  suffer  persecution:  Think  it  not  strange  there- 
fore concerning  the  fiery  trial :  The  devil,  by  his 
wicked  agents,  shall  cast  some  of  you  into  prison, 
that  ye  may  be  tried;  and  ye  shall  have  tribulation 
ten  days,  but  fear  none  of  the  things  which  thou 
shalt  suffer  :  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will 
give  thee  a  crown  of  life." 

But  blessed  be  God  that  this  world  is  the  only 
stage  of  such  trials.  As  soon  as  the  state  of  proba- 
tion  is  finished,  the  state  of  recompence  begins. 
Such  hard  and  painful  exercises  to  try  the  virtues  of 
the  saints,  have  no  place  in  that  world,  which  was 
not  made  for  a  stage  of  trial  and  conflict,  but  a  palace 
of  glorious  reward.  '  Heaven  is  a  place  where  crowns 
and  prizes  are  distributed'  to  all  those  blessed  ones 
*  who  have  endured  temptation,'  and  who  have  been 


DISCOURSE  IX.      NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED,  353 

found  faithful  to  the  death.  These  sharp  and  dread- 
ful  combats  with  pain,  have  no  place  among  con- 
querors, who  have  finished  their  warfare,  and  have 
begun  tlieir  triumph. 

4.  *  Pain  is  sent  us  by  the  hand  of  Providence  to 
teach  us  many  a  lesson  both  of  trutli  and  duty,  which 
perhaps  we  should  I'wever  have  learnt  so  well  without 
it.'  This  sharp  sensation  awakens  our  best  powers 
to  attend  to  those  truths  and  duties  which  we  took 
less  notice  of  before  :  In  the  time  of  perfect  ease  we 
are  ready  to  let  them  lie  neglected  or  forgotten,  till 
God  our  great  Master  takes  his  rod  in  hand  for  our 
instruction. 

SECTION  IV. 

And  this  leads  me  to  the  *  fourth  general  head'  of 
my  discourse,  and  that  is  to  *  enquire  what  are  those 
spiritual  lessons  which  may  be  learnt  on  earth  from 
the  pains  we  have  suffered,  or  may  suffer  in  the  flesh.' 
I  shall  divide  them  into  two  sorts,  viz.  '  Lessons  of 
instruction'  in  useful  truth,  and  '  lessons  of  duty,'  or 
practical  Christianity  ;  and  there  are  many  of  each 
kind  with  which  the  disciples  of  *  Christ  in  this  world' 
may  be  better  acquainted,  by  the  actual  sensations  of 
pain,  than  any  other  way  :  '  In  this  world'  I  say,  and 
*  in  this  only;'  for  in  heaijen  most  of  these  '  lessons 
of  doctrine  and  practice'  are  utterly  needloss  to  be 
taught,  either  because  they  have  been  so  perfectly 
well  known  to  all  its  inhabitants  before,  and  their  pre- 
sent situation  makes  it  impossible  to  fc)rget  them ;  or 


354  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  IXj 

they  shall  be  let  into  the  fuller  knowledge  of  them 
in  heavien  in  a  far  superior  way  of  instruction,  and 
without  any  such  uneasy  discipline.  And  this  I  shall 
evidently  make  appear,  when  I  have  first  enumerated 
all  these  *  general  lessons'  both  '  of  truth  and  duty,' 
and  shewn  how  wisely  the  great  God  has  appointed 
them  to  be  taught  here  on  earth,  under  the  scourge 
and  the  wholsome  discipline  of  pain  in  the  flesh. 

I.  '  The  lessons  of  instruction  here  on  earth,  or 
the  useful  truths,'  are  such  as  these  : 

1.  Pain  teaches  us  feelingly,  *  what  feeble  creatures 
we  are,  and  how  entirely  dependent  oo  G  jd  our  Ma- 
ker for  every  hour  and  moment  of  ease.^  We  are 
naturally  wild  and  wanton  creatures,  and  especially 
in  the  season  of  youth,  our  gayer  powers  are  gadding 
abroad  at  the  call  of  temptation;  but  when  God  sends 
his  arrows  into  our  flesh,  he  arrests  us  on  a  sudden, 
teaches  us  that  we  are  but  men,  poor  feeble  dying 
creatures,  soon  crushed,  and  sinking  under  his  hand. 
We  are  ready  to  exult  in  the  vigour  of  youth,  when 
animal  nature,  in  its  prime  of  strength  and  glory, 
raises  our  pride,  and  supports  us  in  a  sort  of  self- 
sufEciency  ;  we  are  so  vain  and  foolish,  as  to  imagine 
nothing  can  hurt  us  :  But  when  the  pain  of  a  litde 
nerve  seizes  us,  and  we  feel  the  acute  twinges  of  it, 
we  are  made  to  confess  that  *  our  flesh  is  not  iron, 
nor  our  t«ones  brass;'  that  we  are  by  no  means  the 
lords  of  ourselves,  or  sovereigns  over  our  own  nature: 
We  cannot  remove  the  least  degree  of  pain,  till  the 
Lord  who  ser.i  it  takes  off  his  hand,  and  commands 


DISCOURSE  IX.     ^0  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSEDo  355 

the  smart  to  cease.  If  the  torture  fix  itself  but  in  a 
finger  or  a  toe,  or  in  tlie  little  nerve  of  a  tooth,  what 
intense  agonies  may  it  create  in  us,  and  that  beyond 
all  the  relief  of  medicines,  till  the  moment  wherein 
God  shall  give  us  easfe.  This  lesswi  of  the  frailty  of 
human  nature  must  be  some  time  written  upon  our 
hearts  in  deep  and  smarting  characters,  by  intense 
pain,  before  we  have  learnt  it  well;  and  this  gives 
us,  for  some  time  to  come,  a  happy  guard  against 
Qur  pride  and  vanity*  Psal.  xxxix.  10.  When  David 
felt  the  stroke  of  the  hand  of  God  upon  him,  which 
corrected  him  with  sharp  rebukes  for  his  iniquity^, 
he  makes  an  humble  address  to  God,  and  acknow- 
ledges that  his  "  beauty,  and  all  the  boasted  excellen- 
cies of  flesh  and  blood,  consume  away  like  a  moth; 
surely  every  man  is  vanity  !"  Psal.  xxxix.  10,  11. 

2.  The  next  useful  truth  in  which  pain  instructs 
us,  is  *  the  great  evil  that  is  contained  in  the  nature 
of  sin,  because  it  is  the  occasion  of  such  intense  pain 
and  misery  to  human  nature.'  I  grant,  I  have  hint- 
ed this  before,  but  I  would  have  it  more  powerfully 
impressed  upon  our  spirits,  and  therefore  I  introduce 
it  here  again  in  this  part  of  my  discourse  as  a  spiritual 
kssoiiy  which  we  learn  under  the  discipline  of  our 
heavenly  Father, 

It  is  true  indeed  that  innocent  nature  was  madc^ 
capable  of  pain  in  the  first  Adam,  and  the  innocent 
nature  of  the  man  Jesus  Christ  suffered  acute  pain, 
when  he  came  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh:  But  if 
Adam  had  continued 'in  his  state  of  innocence,  it  is 
a  great  question  with  me,  whether  lie  or  bis  cUil^ciren 


G5(j  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  IX. 

would  have  actually  tasted  or  felt  what  acute  pain  is; 
I  mean  such  pain  as  we  now  suffer,  such  as  makes 
us  so  far  unhappy,  and  such  as  we  cannot  immedi- 
ately relieve. 

It  may  be  granted,  that  natural  hunger,  and  thirst, 
and  weariness  after  labour,  would  have  carried  in 
them  some  degrees  of  pain  or  uneasiness,  even  in  the 
state  of  innocence  ;  but  these  are  necessary  to  awak- 
en nature  to  seek  food  and  rest,  and  to  put  the  man 
in  mind  to  supply  his  natural  wants ;  and  man  might 
have  immediately  relieved  them  himself,  for  the  sup- 
plies of  ease  were  at  hand ;  and  these  sort  of  unea- 
sinesses were  abundantly  compensated  by  the  plea- 
sure of  rest  and  food,  and  perhaps  they  were  in  some 
measure  necessary  to  make  food  and  rest  pleasant. 

But  surely  if  sin  had  never  been  known  in  our 
world,  ail  the  pain  that  arises  from  inward*  diseases 
of  nature,  or  from  outward  violence,  had  been  a 
stranger  to  the  human  race,  an  unknown  evil  among 
the  sons  of  men,  as  it  is  among  the  holy  angels,  the 
sons  of  God.  There  had  been  no  distempers  or  acute 
pains  to  meet  young  babes  at  their  entrance  into  this 
world  ;  no  maladies  to  attend  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  Adam  through  the  journey  of  life  ;  and  they  should 
have  been  translated  to  some  higher  and  happier  re- 
gion, without  death,  and  without  pain. 

It  was  the  eating  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil,  that  acquainted  Adam  and  his  offspring 
with  the  evil  of  pain.  Or  if  pain  could  have  attack- 
ed innocence  in  any  form  or  degree,  it  would  have 
been  but  in  a  wav  of  trial;  to  exercise  and  illustrate 


DISCOURSE  IX.       NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  357 

his  virtues  ;  and  if  he  had  endured  the  test,  and  con- 
tinued innocent,  I  am  satisfied  he  should  never  have 
fdt  any  pain  which  was  not  overbalanced  with  supe- 
rior pleasure,  or  abundantly  recompensed  by  succeed- 
ing rewards  and  satisfactions. 

Some  persons  indeed,  have  supposed  it  within  the 
reach  of  the  sovereignty  of  God  to  afflict  and  tor- 
ment a  sinless  creature  :  Yet  I  think  it  is  hardly  con- 
sistent with  his  goodness,  or  his  equity,  to  constrain 
an  innocent  being,  which  has  no  sin,  to  suffer  pain 
\yithout  his  own  consent,  and  without  giving  that  crea- 
ture equal  or  superior  pleasure  as  a  recompence. 
Both  those  were  the  case  in  the  sufferings  of  our 
blessed  Lord  in  his  human  nature,  who  was  perfectly 
innocent :  It  was  with  his  own  consent  that  he  gave 
himself  up  to  be  a  sacrifice,  when  "  it  pleased  the  Fa- 
ther to  bruise  him  and  put  him  to  grief:"  And  God 
rewarded  him  with  transcendent  honours  and  joys 
after  his  passion,  he  exalted  him  to  his  own  right 
hand  and  his  throne,  and  gave  him  authority  over  all 
things. 

In  general  therefore  we  have  sufficient  reason  to 
say,  that  as  sin  brought  in  death  into  human  nature, 
so  it  was  sin  that  brought  in  pain  also;  and  where- 
soever there  is  any  pain  suffered  among  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  men,  I  am  sure  we  may  venture  to  as- 
sert boldly,  that  the  sufferer  may  learn  the  evil  of  sin. 
Even  the  Son  of  God  himself,  when  he  suffered  pain 
in  his  body,  as  well  as  anguish  in  his  spirit,  has 
told  us  by  his  Apostles,  thatour  sins  were  the  causes 
of  it ;   '  he  bore  our  sins  on  his  own  body  on  the  tree, 

z  2 


558  KO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.       DISCOURSE  IX, 

and  for  our  iniquities  he  was  bruised,'  so  says  Isaiah 
the  prophet,  and  so  speaks  Peter  the  Apostle. 

And  sometimes  the  Providence  of  God  is  pleased 
to  point  out  to  us  the  particular  sin  we  are  guilty  of 
by  the  special  punishment  which  he  inflicts.  In  Psal. 
cvii.  17,  18.  "  Fools  are  said  to  be  aiBicted,"  i.  e.  with 
pain  and  sickness,  **  because  of  their  transgressions" 
of  riot  and  intemperance;  *'  their  soul  abhors  all 
manner  of  meat,  and  they  draw  near  to  the  gates  of 
death."  Sickness  and  pain  over-balance  all  the  plea- 
sures of  luxury  in  meats  and  drinks,  and  make  the 
epicure  pay  dear  for  the  elegance  of  his  palate,  and 
the  sweet  relish  of  his  morsels  or  his  cups.  The 
drunkard  in  his  debauches,  is  preparing  some  smart- 
ing pain  for  his  own  punishment.  And  let  us  all  be 
so  wise  as  to  learn  this  lesson  by  the  pains  we  feel, 
that  sin  which  introduced  them  into  the  world  is  an 
abominable  thing  in  the  sight  of  God,  because  it  pro- 
vokes him  to  use  such  smarting  strokes  of  discipline 
in  order  to  recover  us  from  our  folly,  and  to  reduce 
us  back  again  to  the  paths  of  righteousness. 

O  blessed  smart!  O  happy  pain,  that  helps  to  sof- 
ten the  heart  of  a  sinner,  and  melts  it  to  receive  divine 
instruction,  which  before  was  hard  as  iron,  and  at- 
tended to  no  divine  counsel!  we  are  ready  to  wan- 
der from  God,  and  forget  him  amongst  the  monthb 
and  the  years  of  ease  and  pleasure ;  but  when  the 
soul  is  melted  in  this  furnace  of  painful  sufferings, 
it  more  easily  receives  some  divine  stamp,  some  last- 
ing impression  of  truth,  which  the  words  of  the 
preacher  and  the  book  of  God  had  before  inculcated 


DISCOURSE  IX.      NO  PAIW  AMONG  tHE  BLESSED.  359 

without  success,  and  repeated  almost  in  vain.  Happy 
is  the  soul  that  learns  this  lesson  thoroughly,  and 
gains  a  more  lasting  acquaintance  with  the  evil  of 
sin,  and  abhorrence  of  it,  under  the  smarting  stroke 
of  the  hand  of  God.  *' Blessed  is  the  man  whom 
thou  correctest,  O  Lord,  and  teachest  him  the  truths 
that  are  written  in  thy  law,"  Psal.  xciv.  12. 

3.  Pain  in  the  flesh  teaches  us  also  *how  dread- 
fully  the  great  God  can  punish  sin  and  sinners  when 
he  pleases,  in  this  world  or  in  the  other.'  It  is  writ- 
ten in  the  song  of  Moses,  the  man  of  God,  Psal.  xc. 
11.  **  According  to  thy  fear,  so  is  thy  wrath,"  i.  e. 
the  displeasure  and  anger  of  the  blessed  God  is  as 
terrible  as  we  can  fear  it  to  be ;  and  he  can  inflict  on 
us  such  intense  pains  and  agonies,  whose  distressing 
smart  we  may  learn  by  feeling  a  little  of  them.  Un- 
known multiplications  of  racking  pain,  lengthened 
out  beyond  years  and  ages,  is  part  of  the  de- 
scription of  hellish  torments,  and  the  other  part 
lies  in  the  bitter  twinges  of  conscience  and  keen 
remorse  of  soul  for  our  past  iniquities,  but  without 
all  hope.  Behold  a  man  under  a  sharp  fit  of  the  gout 
or  stone,  which  wrings  the  groans  from  his  heart, 
and  tears  from  his  eye^lids  ;  this  is  the  hand  of  God 
in  the  present  world,  where  there  are  many  mixtures 
of  divine  goodness  ;  but  if  ever  we  should  be  so  wil- 
fully unhappy  as  to  be  plunged  into  those  regions 
where  the  almighty  vengeance  of  God  reigns,  without 
one  beam  of  divine  light  or  love,  this  must  be  dread- 
ful indeed.  *<  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  living  God,"  Heb.  x.  31.  to  be  banish- 


360  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  IX. 

ed  far  off  from  all  that  is  holy  and  happy,  and  to  be 
confined  to  that  datk  dungeon,  that  place  of  torture, 
'*  where  the  gnawing  worm  of  conscience  never  dies," 
and  *  *  where  the  fire  of  dhine  anger  is  never  quench- 
ed." 

We  who  are  made  up  of  flesh  and  blood,  which  is 
Interwoven  with  many  nerves  and  muscles,  and  mem- 
branes, may  learn  a  little  of  the  terrors  of  the  Lord, 
if  we  reflect  that  every  nerve,  muscle,  and  membrane 
of  the  body  is  capable  of  giving  us  most  sharp  and 
painful  sensations.  We  may  be  wounded  in  every 
sensible  part  of  nature;  smart  and  anguish  may 
enter  in  at  every  pore,  and  make  almost  every  atom 
of  our  constitution  an  instrument  of  our  anguish. 
*^  Fearfully  and  wonderfully  are  we  formed"  indeed, 
capable  of  pain  all  over  us ;  and  if  a  God  shall  see 
fit  to  punish  sin  to  its  full  desert,  and  penetrate  every 
atom  of  our  nature  with  pain,  what  surprising  and 
intolerable  misery  must  that  be  ?  And  if  God  should 
raise  the  wicked  out  of  their  graves  to  dwell  in  such 
sort  of  bodies  again,  on  purpose  to  shew  his  just 
anger  agai^nst  sin  in  their  punishment,  how  dreadful, 
beyond  expression,  must  their  anguish  be  through 
the  long  ages  of  eternity  ?  God  can  form  even  such 
bodies  for  immortality,  and  can  sustain  them  to  en- 
dure everlasting  agonies. 

Let  us  think  again,  that  when  the  hand  of  our  Cre- 
ator sends  pain  into  our  flesh,  we  cannot  avoid  it,  we 
cannot  fly  from  it,  we  carry  it  with  us  wheresoever 
•we  go:  His  arrows  stick  fast  in  us,  and  we  cannot 
shake  tliem  ofF;  oftentimes  it  appears  that  we  can 


DISCOURSE  IX.      NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  361 

find  no  relief  from  creatures  :  And  if  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  ourselves,  i.  e.  of  these  bodies,  we  plunge 
ourselves  into  the  world  of  spirits  at  once,  we  shall 
find  the  same  God  of  holiness  and  vengeance  there, 
who  can  pierce  our  souls  with  unknown  sorrows, 
equal,  if  not  superior,  to  all  that  we  felt  in  the  flesh. 
**If  I  make  my  bed  in  the  grave,  Lord,  thou  art  there, '> 
thy  hand  of  justice  and  punishment  would  find  me 
out. 

What  a  formidable  thing  it  is  to  such  creatures  as 
we  are,  to  have  God,  our  Maker,  for  our  enemy  ? 
That  God  who  has  all  the  tribes  of  pain  and  disease, 
and  the  innumerable  host  of  maladies  at  his  command? 
He  fills  the  air  in  which  we  breathe  with  fevers  and 
pestilences  as  often  as  he  wills :  The  gout  and  the 
stone  arrest  and  seize  us  by  his  order,  and  stretch 
us  upon  a  bed  of  pain:  Rheumatisms  and  cholicks 
come  and  go  wheresoever  he  sends  them,  and  exe- 
cute his  anger  against  criminals.  He  keeps  in  his 
hand  all  the  various  springs  of  pain,  and  every  invi- 
sible rack  that  can  torment  the  head  or  members,  the 
bowels  or  the  joints  of  man:  He  sets  them  at  their 
dreadful  work  when  and  where  he  pleases.  Let  the 
sinner  tremble  at  the  name  of  his  power  and  terror, 
who  can  fill  both  flesh  and  spirit  with  thrilling  ago- 
nies ;  and  yet  he  never  punishes  beyond  what  our 
iniquities  deserve.  How  necessary  is  it  for  such 
sinful  and  guilty  beings  as  we  are,  whose  natures  are 
capable  of  such  constant  and  acute  sensations  of  pain, 
to  have  the  God  of  nature  our  friend  and  our  recon- 
ciled God  ? 


362  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  IX. 

4.  When  we  feel  the  acute  pains  of  nature,  we 
*  may  learn  something  of  the  exceeding  greatness  of 
the  love  of  Christ,  even  the  Son  of  God,'  that  glo* 
rious  Spirit,  who  took  upon  him  flesh  and  blood  for 
our  sakes,  that  he  might  be  capable  of  pain  and  death, 
though  he  had  never  sinned.  He  endured  intense 
anguish,  to  make  atonement  for  our  crimes.  **  Be- 
cause the  children"  whom  he  came  to  save  from 
misery  *' were  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also 
himself  took  part  of  the  same,"  that  he  might  suffer 
in  the  flesh,  and  by  his  sufferings  put  away  our  sins. 

Happy  was  he  in  his  Father's  bosom,  and  the  de- 
light of  his  soul  through  many  long  ages  before  his 
incarnation:  But  he  condescended  to  be  born  ^^in 
the  likeness  of  sinful  fiesh,"  that  he  might  feel  such 
smart  and  sorrows  as  our  sins  had  exposed  us  to. 
His  innocent  and  holy  soul  was  uncapable  of  such 
sort  of  sufferings  till  he  put  on  this  clothing  of  hu- 
man nature,  and  became  a  Surety  for  sinful  perish- 
ing creatures. 

Let  us  survey  his  sufferings  a  little.  He  was  born 
to  sorrow,  and  trained  up  through  the  common  un- 
easy circumstances  of  the  infant  and  childish  state, 
till  he  grew  up  to  man  :  What  pains  did  attend  him 
in  hunger  and  thirst,  and  weariness,  while  he  travel- 
led on  foot  from  city  to  city,  through  wilds  and  de- 
serts, where  there  was  no  food  nor  rest?  The  Sou 
of  man  sometimes  wanted  the  common  bread  of  na- 
ture, nor  had  he  where  to  lay  his  head.  What  un- 
easy sensations  was  he  exposed  to,  when  he  was  buf- 
feted,  when  he  was  smitten  on  the  cheek,  when  his 


DISCOURSE    IX.       NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  363 

tender  flesh  was  scourged  with  whips,  and  his  tern- 
pies  were  crowned  with  thorns,  when  his  hands  and 
his  feet  were  barbarously  torn  with  rude  nails,  and 
fastened  to  the  cross,  where  the  whole  weight  of  his 
body  huog  on  those  wounds  >  And  what  man  or 
angel  can  tell  the  inward  anguish,  when  **his  soul 
was  exceeding  sorrowful  unto  death,*'  and  the 
conflicts  and  agonies  of  his  spirit  forced  out  the 
drops  of  bloody  sweat  through  every  pore.  It  was 
by  the  extreme  torture  of  his  nature  that  he  was  sup- 
posed  to  expire  on  the  cross  ;  these  were  the  pangs  of 
his  atonement  and  agonies  that  expiated  the  sins  of 
men. 

O  blessed  Jesus  !  What  manner  of  sufferings  were 
these  ?  And  what  manner  of  love  was  it  that  willingly 
gave  up  thy  sacred  nature  to  sustain  them?  And 
what  was  the  design  of  them,  but  to  deliver  us  from 
the  wrath  of  God  in  hell,  to  save  our  flesh  and  spirit 
from  eternal  anguish  and  distress  there  ?  Why  was 
he  **  made  such  a  curse  for  us,"  but  **  that  he  might 
redeem  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,;*  and  the  just 
punishment  of  our  own  iniquities. 

Let  us  carry  our  thoughts  of  his  love,  and  our  be- 
nefit by  it,  yet  one  step  further:  Was  it  not  by  these 
sorrows,  and  this  painful  passion,  that  he  provided 
for  us  this  very  heaven  of  happiness,  where  we  shall 
be  for  ever  freed  from  all  pain  ?  Were  they  not  all 
endured  by  him  to  procure  a  paradise  of  pleasure,  a 
mansion  of  everlasting  peace  and  joy  for  guilty  crea- 
tures, who  had  merited  everlasting  pain  >  Was  it  not 
by  these  his  agonies  in  the  mortal  body,  which  h** 


364  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  DISCOURSE  IX* 

assumed,  that  he  purchased  for  each  of  us  a  glorified 
body,  strong  and  immortal  as  his  own  when  he  rose 
from  the  dead,  a  body  which  has  no  seeds  of  disease 
or  pain  in  it,  no  springs  of  mortality  or  death  ?  May 
glory,  honour  and  praise,  with  supreme  pleasure, 
ever  attend  the  sacred  person  of  our  Redeemer,  whose 
sorrows  and  anguish  of  flesh  and  spirit  were  equal  to 
our  misery,  and  to  his  own  compassion. 

5.  Another  lesson,  which  we  are  taught  by  the 
long  and  tiresome  pains  of  nature,  '  is  the  value  and 
worth  of  the  word  of  God,  and  the  sweetness  of  a 
promise,  which  can  give  the  kindest  relief  to  a  pain- 
ful hour,  and  sooth  the  anguish  of  nature.'  They 
teach  us  the  excellency  of  the  covenant  of  grace, 
which  has  sometimes  strengthened  the  feeblest  pieces 
of  human  nature  to  bear  intense  sufferings  in  the 
body,  and  which  sanctifies  them  all  to  our  advantage. 
Painful  and  tiresome  maladies  teach  us  to  improve 
the  promises  to  valuable  purposes,  and^the  promises 
take  away  half  the  smart  of  our  pains  by  the  sensa- 
tions of  divine  love  let  into  the  soul. 

We  read  of  philosophers  and  heroes  in  some  an» 
cient  histories,  who  could  endure  pain  by  dint  of  rea- 
soning, by  a  pride  of  their  science,  by  an  obstinacy 
of  heart,  or  by  natural  courage ;  but  a  Christian  takes 
the  word  of  a  promise,  and  lies  down  upon  it  in  the 
midst  of  intense  pains  of  nature  ;  and  the  pleasure  of 
devotion  supplies  him  with  such  ease,  that  all  the 
reasonings  of  philosophy,  all  the  courage  of  nature, 
all  the  anodynes  of  medicine,  and  soothing  plaisters 


DISCOURSE  IX.      NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  38 J 

have  attempted  without  success.  When  a  child  of 
God  can  read  his  Father's  love  in  a  promise,  and  by- 
searching  into  the  qualifications  of  his  own  soul,  can 
lay  faster  hold  of  it  by  a  living  faith,  the  rage  of  his 
pain  is  much  allayed,  and  made  half  easy.  A  pro- 
mise  is  a  sweet  couch  to  rest  a  languishing  body  in 
the  midst  of  pains,  and  a  soft  repose  for  the  head  or 
heart-ach. 

The  Stoicks  pretended  to  give  ease  to  pain,  by 
persuading  themselves  *  there  was  no  evil  in  it;'  as 
though  the  mere  misnaming  of  things  would  destroy 
their  nature  :  But  the  Christian,  by  a  sweet  sub- 
mission to  the  evil  which  his  heavenly  Father  inflicts 
upon  his  flesh,  reposes  himself  at  the  foot  of  God  on 
the  covenant  of  grace,  and  bears  the  wounds  and  the 
smart  with  much  more  serenity  and  honour.  *  It 
is  my  heavenly  Father  that  scourges  me,  and  I  know- 
he  designs  me  no  hupt,  though  he  fills  my  flesh  with 
present  pain:  His  own  presence,  and  the  sense  of  his 
love,  soften  the  anguish  of  all  that  I  feel  :  He  bids 
m.e  not  yield  to  fear,  for  when  I  pass  through  the  fires 
he  \mll  he  njoith  me  ;  and  he  that  loved  me,  and  died 
for  me,  has  suffered  greater  sorrows  and  more  an- 
guish on  my  account,  than  what  he  calls  me  to  bear 
under  the  strokes  of  his  wise  and  holy  discipline  :  He 
has  left  his  word  with  me  as  an  universal  medicine 
to  relieve  me  under  all  my  anguish,  till  he  shall  bring 
me  to  those  mansions  on  high,  were  sorrows  and 
pai(>s  are  found  no  more.' 

6.  Anguish  and  pain  of  nature  here  on  earth  teach 
us   *  the  excellency  and  use  of  the  mercy-seat  in  hea- 

A    3 


366  KO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSLD.        DISCOURSE    IX^ 

ven,  and  the  admirable  privilege  of  prayer.'  Even 
the  sons  of  mere  nature  are  ready  to  think  of  God 
at  such  a  season ;  and  they  who  never  prayed  before, 
*  pour  out  a  prayer  before  him  when  his  chastening 
is  upon  them,'  Isai.  xxvi.  16.  An  hour  of  twing- 
ing and  tormenting  pain,  when  creatures  and  medi-^ 
cines  can  give  no  relief,  drives  them  to  the  throne 
of  God  to  try  whether  he  will  relieve  them  or  not. 
But  much  more  delightful  is  it  for  a  child  of  God 
that  has  been  used  to  address  the  throne  of  grace,  to 
run  thither  with  pleasure  and  hope,  and  to  spread 
all  his  anguish  before  the  face  of  his  heavenly  Father. 
The  blessed  God  has  built  this  mercy-seat  for  his 
people  to  bring  all  their  sorrows  thither,  and  spread 
them  before  his  eyes  in  all  their  smarting  circum- 
stances, and  he  has  been  often  pleased  to  speak  a 
word  of  relief. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  ^Christ,  when  he  dwelt  in  flesh 
and  blood,  practised  this  part  of  religion  with  holy 
satisfaction  and  success.  '*  Being  in  an  agony  he 
prayed  more  earnestly,"  and  an  angel  was  sent  to 
strengthen  and  comfort  him,  Luke  xxii.  43,  44. 
This  was  the  relief  of  holy  David  in  ancient  times. 
Psalm  XXV.  18.  "Look  upon  my  affliction  and  my 
pain,  and  pardon  all  my  sins."  Psah  cxvi.  3,  4. 
"  The  sorrows  of  death  compassed  me,  and  the 
pains  of  hell,  or  the  grave,  took  hold  of  me  ;  then 
called  I  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord;  O  Lord,  I  be- 
seech thee,  deliver  my  soul."  And  when  he  found 
a  gracious  answer  to  his  request,  he  acknowledges 
the  grace  of  God  therein,   and  charges  his  soul  to 


DISCOURSE  IX.       NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLES.SED.  367 

dwell  near  to  God;  *'  return  to  thy  rest,  O  my  soul, 
for  the  Lord  hath  dealt  bountifully  with  thee;  I  was 
brought  low,  and  he  helped  me,  he  delivered  my 
soul  from  death,  and  mine  eyes  from  tears." 

But  we  have  stronger  encouragement  than  David 
was  acquainted  with,  since  it  is  revealed  to  us,  that 
we  **have  an  high  Priest"  at  this  throne  ready  to  be- 
speak all  necessary  relief  for  us  there,  Heb.  ii.  18. 
^'  An  high  Priest  who  can  be  touched  with  the  feel- 
ing of  our  infirmities, '^  who  has  sustained  the  same 
sorrows  and  pains  in  the  flesh,  who  can  pity  and  re- 
lieve his  people  under  their  maladies  and  acutest  an- 
guish, Heb.  iv.  15.  When  we  groan  and  sigh  un- 
der continued  pains,  they  are  ready  to  make  nature 
weary  and  faint :  We  groan  unto  the  Lord,  who 
knows  the  language  of  our  frailty  :  Our  High  Priest 
carries  every  groan  to  the  mercy-seat :  His  compas- 
sion works  towards  his  brethren,  and  he  will  suffer 
them  to  continue  no  longer  under  this  discipline  than 
is  necessary  for  their  own  best  improvement  and 
happiness. 

O  how  much  of  this  sort  of  consolation  has  many 
a  Christian  learnt  and  tasted,  by  a  holy  intercourse 
with  heaven,  in  such  painful  seasons  ?  How  much 
has  he  learnt  of  the  tender  mercies  of  God  the  Fa- 
ther, and  of  the  pity  and  sympathy  of  our  great  High 
Priest  above?  Who  would  be  content  to  live  in  such 
a  painful  world  as  this  is,  withdut  the  pleasure  and 
relief  of  prayer  ?  Who  would  live  without  an  inter- 
est at  this  mercy-seat,  and  without  the  supporting 
friendship  of  this  Advocate  at  the  throne  ? 


368  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  IX, 

Thus  I  have  run  over  the  chief  lessons  of  instruc- 
tion or  doctrine,  which  may  be  derived  from  our 
sensations  of  pain  here  in  this  world  :  But  there  is 
no  need  of  this  sort  of  discipline  in  the  blessed  re- 
gions  of  heaven  to  teach  the  inhabitants  such  truths. 

They  will  remember  *  what  feeble  helpless  crea- 
tures they  were'  when  they  dwelt  in  flesh  and  blood ; 
but  they  have  put  off  those  fleshly  garments  of  mor- 
tality, with  all  its  weaknesses  together.  The  spirits 
of  the  blessed  know  nothing  of  those  frailties,  nor  shall 
the  bodies  of  the  saints,  new  raised  from  the  dust, 
bring  back  any  of  their  old  infirmities  with  them. 
These  blessed  creatures  know  well  *  how  entirely 
dependent  they  are  for  all  things  upon  God'  their 
Creator,  without  the  need  of  pains  and  maladies  to 
teach  them,  for  they  live  every  moment  with  God, 
and  in  a  full  dependence  upoft  him  :  They  are  sup- 
ported in  their  life,  and  all  its  everlasting  blessings, 
by  his  immediate  presence,  power  and  mercy. 

They  have  no  need  of  pain  in  those  fields  or  gar- 
dens of  pleasure  to  teach  them  the  evil  of  sin  ;  they 
well  remember  all  the  sorrows  they  have  passed 
through  in  their  mortal  state,  while  they  were  tra- 
versing the  wilderness  of  this  world,  and  they  know 
that  sin  was  the  cause  of  them  all.  They  see  the  evil 
of  sin  in  the  glass  of  the  divine  holiness,  and  the 
hateful  contrariety  that  is  in  it  to  the  nature  of  God 
is  discovered  in  thf^  immediate  light  of  all  his  per- 
fections,  his  wisdom,  his  truth  and  his  goodness. 
They  behold  the  evil  of  sin  in  the  marks  of  the  suf- 
ferings of  their  blessed  Saviour  ;  he  appears  in  glo- 


DISCOURSE  IX,  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  3G9 

ry  '  as  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,'  and  carries  some 
memorials  of  his  death  about  him,  to  let  the  saints 
know  for  ever  what  he  has  suffered  to  make  atone- 
ment for  their  sins. 

Nor  have  the  blessed  above  any  need  to  learn  '  how 
dreadfully  God  can  punish  sin  and  sinners,'  while 
they  behold  his  indignation  going  forth  in  a  long  and 
endless  stream,  to  make  the  wicked  enemies  of  God 
in  hell  for  ever  justly  miserable  :  And  in  this  sense 
it  may  be  said,  that  *'  the  smoke  of  their  torments 
come  up  before  God  and  his  holy  angels,  and  his 
saints  for  ever." 

Nor  do  these  happy  beings  stand  in  need  of  new 
sensations  of  pain,  to  teach  them  '  the  exceeding 
greatness  of  the  love  of  Christ,'  who  exposed  him- 
self to  intense  and  smarting  anguish,  both  of  flesh 
and  spirit,  to  procure  their  salvation :  For  while  they 
dwell  amidst  the  blessedness  of  that  state,  which 
the  Redeemer  purchased  with  the  price  of  his  own 
sufferings,  they  can  never  forget  his  love. 

Nor  do  they  want  to  learn  in  heaven  the  '  value 
of  the  word  of  God  and  his  promises,'  by  which  they 
were  supported  under  their  pains  and  sorrows  in  this 
mortal  state.  Those  promises  have  been  fulfilled 
to  them  partly  on  earth,  and  in  a  more  glorious  and 
abundant  manner  in  the  heavenly  world.  They  rel- 
ish the  sweetness  of  all  those  words  of  mercy,  in 
reviewing  the  means  whereby  divine  grace  sustained 
them  in  their  former  state  of  trial,  and  in  the  com- 
plete acconiplishment  of  the  best  of  those  promises 


3/0  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSEU.      DISCOURSE  IX* 

in  their  present  situation  amidst  ten  thousand  end- 
less blessings. 

And  if  any  of  them  were  too  cold  and  remiss,  and 
infrequent  in  their  applications  to  the  mercy- seat  by 
prayer,  when  they  were  here  on  earth,  and  stood  in 
need  of  chastisement  to  make  them  pour  out  their 
prayers  to  God,  yet  they  can  never  forget  *the  vahie 
of  this  privilege,'  while  they  themselves  dwell  round 
about  the  throne,  and  behold  all  their  ancient  sin- 
cere addresses  to  the  mercy-seat  answered  and  swal- 
lowed up  in  the  full  fruition  of  their  present  glories 
and  joys.  Praise  is  properly  the  language  of  heaven, 
when  all  their  wants  are  supplied,  and  their  prayers 
on  earth  are  finished  ;  and  whatever  further  desires 
they  may  have  to  present  before  God,  the  throne  of 
grace  is  ever  at  hand,  and  God  himself  is  ever  in  the 
midst  of  them  to  bestow  every  proper  blessing  in  its 
season  that  belongs  to  the  heavenly  world.  Not  one 
of  them  can  any  more  stand  in  need  of  chastisement 
or  painful  exercises  of  the  flesh  to  drive  them  to  the 
throne  of  God,  while  they  are  at  home  in  their  Fa- 
ther's  house,  and  for  ever  near  him  and  his  all-suffici- 
ency. It  is  from  thence  they  are  constantly  deriving 
immortal  supplies  of  blessedness,  as  from  a  spring 
that  will  never  fail. 

SECTION  V. 

I  proceed  now  to  consider  in  the  last  place,  what 
are  the  *  practical  lessons  which  pain  may  teach  us 
while  we  are  here  on  earth'  in  our  state  of  proba- 


DISCOURSE  IrX.  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSE;.!^.  371 

tion  and  discipline,  and  shall  afterward  make  it  evi- 
dent, that  there  is  '  no  need  of  pain  in  heaven  for  the 
same  purposes.' 

1.  The  frequent  returns  of  pain  may  put  us  in  mind 
'  to  offer  to  God  his  due  sacrifices  of  praise  for  the 
months  and  years  of  ease  which  we  have  enjoyed;' 
we  are  too  ready  to  forget  the  mercy  of  God  herein, 
unless  we  are  awakened  by  new  painful  sensations ; 
and  when  we  experience  new  relief,  then  our  lips  are 
opened  with  thankfulness,  and  our  mouth  shews  forth 
his  praise  :  Then  we  cry  out  with  devout  language, 
*  Blessed  be  the  Lord  that  has  delivered  us  !'  When 
we  have  been  oppressed  for  some  time  with  extreme 
anguish,  then  one  day,  or  one  hour  of  ease  fills  the 
heart  and  the  tongue  with  thankfulness ;  *  blessed  be 
the  God  of  nature  that  has  appointed  medicines  to 
restore  our  ease,  and  blessed  be  that  goodness  that 
has  given  success  to  them  !'  What  a  rich  mercy  is  it 
under  our  acute  torments,  that  there  are  methods  of 
relief  and  healing  found  among  the  powers  of  nature, 
among  the  plants  and  the  herbs,   and  the  mineral 
stores  which  are  under  ground  ?  Blessed  be  the  Lord, 
>vho  in  the  course  of  his  providence  has  given  skill 
to  physicians  to  com.pose  and  to  apply  the  proper 
means  of  relief!  Blessed  be  that  hand  that  has  plant- 
ed every  herb  in  the  field  or  the  garden,  and  has  made 
the  bowels  of  the  earth  to  teem  with  medicines  for 
the  recovery  of  our  health  and  ease,  and  blessed  be 
bis  name  who  has  rebuked   our  maladies,  who  has 
constrained  the   smarting  diseases  to  depart  by  the 
vse  of  balms  and  balsams  that  are  happily  applied  ! 


572  y:0  PAIN  AMONG  THX  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  IXo 

0  While  we  enjoy  the  benefits  of  common  life,  in 
health  of  body  and  in  easy  circumstances,  we  are  too 
often  thoughdess  of  the  hand  of  God,  which  showers 
down  these  favours  of  heaven  upon  us  in  a  long  and 
constant  succession ;  but  when  he  sees  fit  to  touch 
us  with  his  finger,  and  awaken  some  lurking  mala- 
dy  within  us,  our  ease  vanishes,  our  days  are  rest- 
less and  painful,  and  tiresome  nights  of  darkness  pass 
over  us  without  sleep  or  repose.  Then  we  repent 
that  we  have  so  long  forgotten  the  God  of  our  mer- 
cies ;  and  we  learn  to  lift  up  our  praises  to  the  Lord, 
that  every  night  of  our  lives  has  not  been  restless, 
that  every  day  and  hour  has  not  been  a  season  of 
racking  pain.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  that  enables  us, 
without  anguish  or  uneasiness,  to  fulfil  the  common 
business  of  the  day ;  and  blessed  be  his  hand  that 
draws  the  peaceful  curtains  of  the  night  round  about 
us  I  And  even  in  the  midst  of  moderate  pains,  we 
bless  his  name  who  gives  us  refreshing  slumbers;  and 
we  grow  more  careful  to  employ  and  improve  every 
moment  of  returning  ease,  as  the  most  proper  way 
of  expressing  our  thankfulness  to  our  Almighty 
healer. 

Alas,  what  poor,  sorry,  sinful  creatures  are  we  in 
the  present  state,  who  want  to  be  taught  the  value  of 
our  mercies  by  the  removal  of  them  !  The  man  of  a 
robust  and  vigorous  make,  and  a  healthy  constitution, 
knows  not  the  tr*&v^vorth  of  health  and  ease,  nor 
sets  a  due  value  upon  these  blessings  of  heaven  ;  but 
we  are  taught  to  thank  God  feelingly,  for  an  easy 
bo\ir  after  long  repeated  twinges  of  pain  :  We  bless 


DISCOURSE  IX.      NO  PAINAMONG  THE  BLESSED.  573 

that  goodness  which  gives  us  an  easy  night  after  a 
day  of  distressing  anguish.  Blessed  be  the  God  of 
nature  and  grace,  that  has  not  made  the  gout  or  the 
stone  immortal,  nor  subjected  our  sensible  powers 
to  an  everlasting  cholick  or  tO-Oth-ach. 

2.  Pain  in  the  flesh  more  effectually  teaches  us  *  to 
sympathise  with  those  who  suffer.'  We  learn  a  ten- 
derness of  soul  experimentally  by  our  own  sufferings. 
We  generally  love  self  so  well,  that  we  forget  our 
neighbours  under  special  tribulation  and  distress, 
unless  we  are  made  to  feel  them  too.  In  a  particular 
manner,  when  our  nature  is  pinched  and  pierced 
through  with  some  smarting  malady,  we  learn  to  pity 
those  who  lie  groaning  under  the  same  disease.  A 
kindred  of  sorrows  and  sufferings  works  up  our  na- 
tures into  compassion ;  and  we  find  our  own  hearts 
more  sensibly  affected  with  the  groans  of  our  friends 
under  a  sharp  fit  of  the  gout  or  rheumatism,  when 
we  ourselves  have  felt  the  stings  of  the  same  dis- 
temper. 

Our  blessed  Saviour  himself,  though  he  wanted  not 
compassion  and  love  to  the  children  of  men,  since  he 
came  down  from  heaven  on  purpose  to  die  for  them, 
yet  he  is  represented  to  us  as  our  merciful  High 
Priest,  who  had  learnt  sympathy  and  compassion  to 
our  sorrows  in  tlie  same  way  of  experience  as  we 
learn  it.  He  was  "  encompassed  about  w^ith  infir- 
mities," when  he  took  the  sinless  frailties  of  our  na- 
ture upon  him,  that  he  might  learn  to  pity  us  under 
those  frailties.  <'  In  that  he  himself  hath  suffered 
being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  suGCour  them  that  are 

B  3 


374  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.         DISCOURSE  IX» 

tempted :  For  vve  have  not  an  High  Priest  which 
cannot  be  touched  with  the  feehng  of  our  infirmities, 
but  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,"  though 
he  was  always  **  without  sin  ;  and  by  (he  things  which 
he  suffered,"  he  may  be  said,  after  the  manner  of 
men,  to  learn  'sympathy  and  pity'  to  miserable 
creatures,  as  well  as  obedience  to  God,  who  is  blessed 
for  ever,  Heb.  ii.  18.  and  iv.  15.  and  v.  2,  8. 

3.  Since  our  natures  are  subject  to  pain,  it  should 
teach  us  '  watchfulness  against  every  sin,  lest  we 
double  our  own  distresses  by  the  mixture  of  guilt 
with  them.'  How  careful  should  we  be  to  keep 
always  a  clear  conscience,  that  we  may  be  able  at  all 
times  to  look  up  with  pleasure  to  the  hand  of  God 
who  smites  us,  and  be  better  composed  to  endure 
the  pains  which  he  inflicts  upon  us  for  our  trial  and 
improvement  in  grace.  Innocence  and  piety,  and  a 
peaceful  conscience,  are  an  admirable  defence  to  sup- 
port the  spirit  against  the  overwhelming  efforts  of 
bodily  pain :  But  when  inward  reproaches  of  mind, 
and  a  racking  conscience  join  with  acute  pain  in  th& 
flesh,  it  is  double  misery,  and  aggravated  wretched- 
ness. The  scourges  and  inward  remorse  of  our  own 
hearts,  joined  to  the  sorrows  of  nature,  add  torment 
to  torment.  How  dreadful  is  it  when  we  are  forced 
to  confess,  *  I  have  procured  all  this  to  myself  by 
intemperance,  by  my  rashness,  by  my  obstinacy 
against  the  advice  of  friends,'  and  rebellion  against 
the  commands  of  God  ! 

Probably  it  was  such  circumstances  as  these,  that 
gave  the  soul  of  David  double  anguish,   '*  when  his 


DISCOUUSE    IX.       NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESS.FD.  117^ 

boires  waxed  old,  through  his  roaring  all  the  day 
long,  when  day  and  night  the  hand  of  God  was  heavy 
upon  him,  and  his  moisture  was  turned  into  the 
drought  of  summer;"  when  he  complained  unto  Gcid, 
**  thine  arrows  stick  fast  in  me,  and  thy  hand  presseth 
me  sore  :  There  is  no  soundness  in  my  flesh,  because 
of  thine  anger  ;  nor  any  rest  in  my  bones,  because 
of  my  sin.  Mine  iniquities  are  gone  over  mine  head 
as  an  heavy  burden,  they  are  too  heavy  for  m^* 
Deep  calls  unto  deep  at  the  noise  of  thy  water- spouts, 
all  thy  waves  and  thy  billows  are  gone  over  me." 
The  *  deep  of  anguish'  in  my  flesh  calls  to  the  <  deep 
of  sorrow'  in  my  soul,  and  makes  a  tremendous  tu- 
mult within  me.  *<  My  wounds  stink,  and  are  cor- 
rupt, because  of  my  foolishness:  I  am  feeble  and 
sore  broken ;  I  have  roared  by  reason  of  the  disqui- 
etness  of  my  heart;"  nor  could  he  find  any  rest  or 
ease  till  he  **  acknowledged  his  sin  unto  God,  and 
confessed  his  transgressions,"  and  till  he  had  some 
comfortable  hope  that  *'God  had  forgiven  the  iniquity 
of  his  sin."  See  this  sorrowful  scene  exemplified  in 
a  very  affecting  manner  in  the  32d  and  38th  Psalms. 
Happy  is  the  man  that  walks  closely  with  his  God  in 
the  days  of  health  and  ease,  that  whenever  it  shall 
please  his  heavenly  Father  to  try  him  with  smarting 
pain,  he  may  And  sweet  relief  from  a  peaceful  con- 
science, and  humble  appeals  to  God  concerning  his 
own  sincerity  and  watchfulness. 

4.  Pain  in  the  flesh  may  sometimes  be  sent  by  the 
hand  of  God,  to  teach  us  *  to  wean  ourselves  by  de- 
grees from  this  body,  which  we  love  too  v;ell ;  this 


37Q  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  IX. 

body,  which  has  all  the  springs  of  pain  in  it.'  How 
little  should  we  be  fond  of  this  flesh  and  blood 
in  the  present  feeble  state,  wherein  we  are  continually- 
liable  to  one  malady  or  another ;  to  the  head-ach  or 
the  heart-ach,  to  wounds  or  bruises,  and  uneasy  sen- 
sations of  various  kinds  >  Nor  can  the  soul  secure 
itself  from  them,  while  it  is  so  closely  united  to  this 
mortal  body.  And  yet  we  are  too  fond  of  our  present 
dwelling,  though  it  be  but  a  cottage  of  clay,  feeble 
and  ruinous,  where  the  winds  and  the  storms  are 
continually  ready  to  break  in  and  distress  us.  A 
sorry  habitation  indeed  for  an  immortal  spirit,  since 
sin  has  mingled  so  many  diseases  in  our  constitution, 
has  made  so  many  avenues  for  smart  and  anguish  iu 
our  flesh,  and  we  arc  capable  of  admitting  pain  and 
agonies  at  every  pore. 

Fain  is  appointed  to  be  a  sort  of  balance  to  the 
*  tempting  pleasures  of  life,'  and  to  make  us  feel  that 
perfect  happiness  does  not  grow  among  the  inhabit- 
ants of  flesh  and  blood.  Pain  takes  away  the  plea- 
sures of  the  day  and  the  repose  of  the  night,  and 
makes  life  bitter  in  all  the  returning  seasons.  The 
God  of  nature  and  grace  is  pleased,  by  sending  sick- 
ness and  pain,  to  loosen  his  own  children  by  degrees 
from  their  fond  attachment  to  this  fleshly  tabernacle, 
and  to  make  us  willing  to  depart  at  his  call. 

A  long  continuance  of  pain,  or  the  frequent  repeat- 
ed twinges  of  it,  will  *  teach  a  Christian  and  incline 
him  to  meet  death  with  courage,  at  the  appointed  hour 
of  release.'  This  will  much  abate  the  fiierccness  of 
ihQ  king  of  terrors,  when  he  appears  as  a  sovereign 


IMSCOURSE  IX.      NO  PAIN  AlIONG  THE  BLESSED.  Z77 

physician  to  finish  every  malady  of  nature.  Death  is 
sanctified  to  the  holy  soul,  and  by  the  covenant  of 
grace  this  curse  of  nature  is  changed  into  a  blessing. 
The  grave  is  a  safe  retiring  place  from  all  the  attacks 
of  disease  and  anguish  :  And  there  are  some  incura- 
bles here  on  earth,  which  can  find  no  perfect  relief 
but  in  the  grave.  Neither  maladies,  nor  tyrants  can 
stretch  their  terrors  beyond  this  life:  And  if  we  can 
but  look  upon  death  as  a  conquered  enemy,  and  its 
sting  taken  away  by  the  death  of  Christ,  we  shall 
easily  venture  into  this  last  combat,  and  obtain  an 
everlasting  victory.  Blessed  be  God  for  the  grave  as 
a  refuge  from  smarting  pains !  Thanks  be  to  God 
through  Christ  Jesus,  who  enables  us  to  triumph 
over  the  last  pain  of  nature,  and  to  say,  **  O  death 
where  is  thy  sting  ?  and  O  grave  where  is  thy  vic- 
tory?" 

In  the  fifth  and  last  place,  by  the  pains  that  we  suf- 
fer in  this  body,  ^  we  are  taught  to  breathe  after  the 
blessedness  of  the  heavenly  state  wherein  there  shall 
be  no  pain.'  When  the  soul  is  dismissed  from  the 
bonds  of  flesh,  and  presented  before  God  in  the  world 
of  spirits  without  spot  or  blemish  by  Jesus  our  great 
Forerunner,  it  is  then  appointed  to  dwell  among  the 
"  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,'*  who  were  all  re- 
leased in  their  several  seasons  from  the  body  of  flesh 
and  sin.  Maladies  and  infirmities  of  every  kind  are 
buried  in  the  grave,  and  cease  for  ever ;  and  if  we  sur- 
vey the  properties  of  the  new  raised  body  in  the  great 
resurrection-day,  as  described  1  Cor.  xv.  we  shall  find 
no  room  for  pain  there,  no  avenue  or  residence  for  smart 
or  anguish.     It  v/ill  not  be  such  a  body  of  flesh  and 


SrS  NO  PAIN  AMONG  TH£  BLESSED.      DISCOURSE  IX^ 

blood  which  can  be  a  source  of  maladies,  or  subject  to 
outward  injuries;  but  by  its  own  principles  of  innate 
vigour  and  immortality,  as  well  as  by  the  power  and 
mercy  of  God,  it  shall  be  for  ever  secured  from  those 
uneasy  sensations  which  made  our  flesh  oo  earth 
painful  and  burdensome,  and  which  tended  toward 
dissolution  and  death.  It  is  such  a  body  as  our  Lord 
Jesus  wore  at  his  ascent  to  heaven  in  a  bright  cloud 
forevei*  incorruptible  ;  **  for  flesh  and  blood  cannot 
inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,  neither  doth  corrup- 
tion inherit  incorruption.  As  we  have  borne  the  im- 
age of  the  earthly''  Adam  in  the  frailties. and  suffer* 
angs  that  belong  to  it,  so  shall  **  we  also  bear  the 
image  of  the  heavenly,"  even  the  **  Lord  Jesus  Chiist 
who  shall  change  our  vile  body,  that  it  my  be  fashion- 
ed like  unto  his  own  glorious  body,  according  to  the 
working  whereby  he  is  able  to  subdue  all  things  un- 
to himself,"  Phil.  iii.  2L  *'  We  shall  hunger  no 
more,  wc  shall  thirst  no  more,  nor  shall  the  sun 
light  on  us"  with  its  parching  beams,  nor  shall  we 
be  annoyed  with  fire  or  frost,  with  heat  or  cold,  in 
those  temperate  and  happy  regions.  **  The  Lamb 
which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  shall  feed"  his  peo- 
ple for  ever  there  '*  with  the  fruits  of  the  tree  of  life," 
and  with  unknown  entertainments  suited  to  a  glori- 
fied state.  *'  He  shall  lead  them  to  living  fountains 
of  waters,  and  God  sliall  wipe  away  all  tears  from 
tlieir  eyes.'' 

Thus  have  I  set  before  you  *  the  practical  lessons' 
which  pain  is  designed  to  teach  us  in  our  present 
state  ;  and  we  find  that  a  body  subject  to  maladies 


DlSCOUr^SE  IS.      NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  S79 

and  pains,  is  a  well  appointed  school,  wherein  our 
great  Master  gives  us  these  divine  instructions,  and 
trains  us  up  by  degrees  for  the  heavenly  world.  It  is 
rough  discipline  indeed  for  the  flesh,  but  it  is  whole- 
some for  the  soul :  And  there  is  m^ny  a  Christian  here 
on  earth  that  have  been  made  to  confess,  they  had 
riever  learnt  the  practice  of  some  of  these  virtues,  if 
they  had  not  been  taught  by  such  sort  of  discipline. 
Pain,  which  was  brought  into  human  nature  at  first 
by  sin,  is  happily  suited  by  the  providence  of  God 
to  such  a  state  of  probation,  wherein  creatures  born 
in  the  midst  of  sins  and  sorrows  are  by  degrees  re- 
covered to  the  love  of  God  and  holiness,  and  fitted 
for  a  world  of  peace  and  joy. 

But  when  we  have  done  with  this  world,  and  de- 
parted from  the  tribes  of  motal  men,  and  from  all  the 
scenes  of  allurement  and  temptation,  there  is  no  more 
need  that  such  lessons  should  be  taught  us  in  heaven^ 
nor  any  painful  scourge  made  use  of  by  the  Father 
of  spirits,  to  carry  on,  or  to  maintain  the  divine  work 
of  holiness  and  grace  within  us.  Let  us  survey  this 
matter  according  to  the  foregoing  particulars. 

Is  it  possible  that  while  the  blessed  above  are  sur- 
rounded with  endless  satisfactions  flowing  from  the 
throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb,  they  should  *  forget 
their  benefactor,  and  neglect  his  praises  ?'  Is  it  pos- 
sible they  should  dwell  in  immortal  heal^i  and  ease 
without  interruption,  under  tlie  constant  vital  influ- 
ences of  the  King  of  Glory,  and  yet  want  gratitude 
to  the  spring  of  all  their  blessings  ? 


380  KO  TAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.      DISCOfUSE  IX, 

Nor  is  there  any  need  for  the  inhabitants  of  a  worldy 
where  no  pains  nor  sorrows  are  found,  '  to  learn 
compassion  and  sympathy  to  those  who  suffer,'  for 
there  are  no  sufferers  there  :  But  love  and  joy,  in- 
tense and  intimate  Icf^^e,  and  a  harmony  of  joy  runs 
through  all  that  blessed  company,  and  unites  them 
in  an  universal  sympathy,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  or 
blissful  sensation  of  each  other's  happiness.  And  I 
might  add  also,  could  there  be  such  a  thing  as  sor- 
row and  misery  in  those  regions,  this  dkine  princi- 
ple of  love  would  work  sweetly  and  powerfully  to- 
ivards  such  objects  in  all  necessary  compassion. 

What  if  pain  was  once  made  a  spur  to  our  du- 
ties, in  this  frail  state  of  flesh  and  blood  ?  What  if 
pain  were  designed  as  a  guard  against  temptation, 
and  a  means  to  awaken  our  watch  against  new  trans- 
gression and  guilt  ?  But  in  a  climate  where  all  is  ho- 
liness, and  all  is  peace,  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  the 
great  God,  and  secured  by  that  everlasting  cove- 
nant which  was  sealed  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  there 
is  no  more  danger  of  sinning.  The  soul  is  moulded 
into  the  more  complete  likeness  of  God,  by  living 
for  ever  under  the  light  of  his  countenance  and  the 
warmest  beams  of  his  love. 

What  if  we  had  need  of  the  stings  of  pain  and  an- 
guish in  time  past,  '  to  wean  us  by  degrees  from  this 
body,  and  from  all  sensible  things,'  and  to  make  us 
w  illing  to  part  w^ith  them  all  at  the  call  of  God  ?  Yet 
when  we  arrive  at  the  heavenly  world,  we  shall  have 
no  more  need  of  being  weaned  from  earth,  we  shall 
never  look  back   upon  that  state  of  pain  and  frailty 


DISCOURSE  IX.       NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  381 

with  a  wishful  eye,  being  for  ever  satisfied  in  the  af- 
fluence of  present  joys. 

O  glorious  and  happy  state  !     Where  millions  of 
creatures  who  have  dwelt  in  bodies  of  sin  and  pain, 
and  have  been  guilty  of  innumerable  follies  and  of-> 
fences  against  their  Maker,  yet  they  are  all  forgiven, 
*  their  robes  are  washed,    and  made  white  in  the 
blood  of  Jesus,'  their  iniquities  are  cancelled  for  ever, 
and  there  shall  not  be  one  stroke  more  from  the  hand 
of  God  to  chasten  them,  nor  one  more  sensation  of 
pain  to  punish  them.     Divine  and  illustrious  privi- 
lege  indeed,   and  a  glorious  world,   where  complete 
sanctification  of  all  the  powers  of  nature  shall  for  ever 
secure  us  from  new  sins,  and  where  the  springs  and 
causes  of  pain  shall  for  ever  cease,    both  within  us 
and  without  us.     Our  glorified  bodies  shall  have  no 
avenue  for  pain  to  enter ;    the  gates  of  heaven  shall 
admit  no  enemy  to  afflict  or  hurt  us:  God  is  our 
everlasting  friend,   and  our  souls  shall  be  satisfied 
with  the    *'  rivers  of  pleasure  which  flow  for  ever  at 
the  right  hand  of  God."     Amen, 


c  3 


DISCOURSE  X. 


THE 


FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT, 

OR    THE 

FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 

Kom.  viii.  23. 

And  not  only  they^  but  oiirsehes  also  ivbo  ba^ve  the  first 
fruits  of  the  Spirit,  even  we  ourselves  groan  within 
ourselves,  waiting  for  the  adoption,  that  isy   the  re- 
demption  of  the  body, 

SECTION  I. 

IT  is  by  a  beautiful  figure  of  speech  the  Apostle  had 
been  describing,  in  the  foregoing  verses,  the  unna- 
tural abuse  which  the  creatures  suiFer  through  the 
sins  of  men,  whei\  they  arc  e:nployed  to  sinful  pur- 
poses and  the  dishonour  of  God  their  Creator.  Per- 
mit me  to  read  the  words  and  represent  the  sense  of 
them  in  a  short  paraphrase.  Ver.  22.  **  We  know 
that  the  whole  creation  groancth  and  travelleth  in 
pain  together  until  now."  The  earth  itself  may  be 
represented  as  groaning  to  bear  such  loads  of  ini- 
quity,  such  a  multitude  of  wicked  men  who  abuse 
the  creatures  of  God  to  the  dishonour  of  him  that 
made  them  :  The  air  may  be  said  lo  groan  to  give 
breath  to  those  vile  wretches  who  abuse  it  in  filthi- 


DISCOURSE  X.    THE  TIRST  EFwUITS  Or  THE  SPIRIT,    &C.      383 

ness  and  foolish  talking,   to  the  dishonour  of  God, 
and  to  the  scandal  of  their  neighbours;  it  groans  to 
furnish  men  with  breath  that  is  abused  in  idolatry  by 
the  false  worship  of  the  true  God,    or  the   worship 
of  creatures  which  is  abominable  in  his  sight  :   The 
sun  itself  may  be  said  to  groan  to  give  light  to  those 
sinners  who  abuse  both  day-light   and    darkness  in 
rioting  and  wantonness,    in  doing  mischief  among 
men  and  committing  fresh  iniquities  against  their 
Maker :   The  moon  and  stars  are  abused  by  adulterers 
and  thieves,  and  other  midnight  sinners,  when  they  any 
way  afford  light  enough  to  them  to  guide  them  in  their 
pursuit  of  wicked  ways  and  practices.     The  *  beasts 
of  burden'  may  be  said  also  to  groan  and  be  abused 
when  they  bear  the  wicked  sons  and  daughters  of 
Adam  to  the   accomplishment  of  their   iniquities  : 
And  even  all  the  parts  of  the  brutal  world,  as  well  as 
of  the  inanimate  creation,    are  some  way  or  other 
made  to  serve  the  detestable  and  wicked  purposes  of 
the  sinful  children  of  men,  and  may  be  figuratively 
said  to  groan  on  this  account.    And  if  we  have  tast- 
ed of  the  fruits  of  the  spirit  of  grace,  we  cannot  but 
in  some  measure  groan  v;ith  the  rest  of  the  creation 
in  expectation  of  the  blessed  daj^,  when  the  creatures 
shall  be  delivered  from  this  bondage  of  corruption, 
to  which  the  providence  of  God  has  suffered  them  to 
be  subjected  in  this  degenerate  state  of  things. 
We  hope  there  is  a  time  coming,  when  the  creatures 
.  themselves  shall  be  used   according  to  the  original 
appointment  of  their  Maker,  agreeable  to  their  own 
first  design,   and  for  the  good  of  tlieir  fellow- crea- 


384  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,       DISCOURSE    X, 

tures,  and  supremely  for  the  honour  of  their  God, 
**  in  that  day  when  holiness  to  the  Lord  shall  be  writ- 
ten upon  the  bells  of  the  horses ;  and  every  pot  in 
Jerusalem  shall  be  holiness  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts." 
Why  should  we  not  join  then  with  the  whole  crea- 
tion in  groaning  and  longing  after  this  promised  time, 
when  all  the  works  of  God  shall  be  restored  to  their 
rightful  us&>  and  the  glory  of  the  Maker  shall  some 
way  or  other  be  made  to  shine  in  every  one  of  them? 

The  Apostle  then  adds,  in  the  words  of  my  text, 
**and  not  these  creatures  only,  but  ourselves  also  who 
have  the  first  fruit  of  the  Spirit,"  we  who  are  filled 
with  the  gifts  and  graces  of  the  holy  Spirit,  and  emi- 
nently the  first  fruits  hereof  appear  in  our  taste  and 
relish  of  the  divine  provisions  that  God  has  given 
us  here  in  this  world  to  prepare  for  a  better  ;  and 
even  bestows  upon  some  of  his  Christian  servants 
these  first  fruits  of  the  tree  of  paradise,  th-ese  blessings, 
and  these  foretastes  which  are  near  a-kin  to  those  of 
the  upper  world,  when  the  saints  shall  be  raised  from 
the  dead,  when  their  adoption  shall  be  clearly  mani- 
fested, and  they  shall  look  like  the  children  of  God, 
and  their  bodies  and  afl  their  natural  powers  shall 
be  redeemed  from  those  disorders,  whether  of  sin  or 
sorrow,  and  from  all  the  springs  and  seeds  of  them, 
which  they  are  more  or  less  liable  to  feel  in  the  pre- 
sent state. 

Here  let  it  be  observed,  that  ih.t  first  fruits  of  any 
field,  or  plant,  or  tree,  are  of  the  same  kind  with  the 
full  product  or  the  harvest  ;  therefore  it  is  plain,  that 
the  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  in  this  place  cannot  chief- 


DISCOURSE  X.        OR  THE  rORETASTL  OF   HEAVEN.  C85 

ly  signify  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  such  as  the  gifts  of 
tongues,  or  of  heaUng,  or  of  miracles,  nor  the  gifts 
of  prophecy,  preaching,  or  praying,  because  these 
are  not  the  employments  nor  the  enjoyments  of  hea- 
ven. The  *  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit'  must  rather 
refer  therefore  to  the  knowledge  and  holiness,  the 
graces  and  the  joys  which  are  more  perfect  and  glo- 
rious in  the  heavenly  state,  than  they  were  ever  de- 
signed to  be  here  upon  earth.  Now  these  first  fruits 
of  graces  and  joys  are  sometimes  bestowed  upon 
Christians  in  this  world,  in  such  a  degree  as  brings 
them  near  to  the  heavenly  state  :  And  that  is  the 
chief  observation  I  design  to  draw  from  these  words, 
viz.  '  That  God  has  been  pleased  to  give  some  of 
his  children  here  on  earth  several  of  the  foretastes  of 
the  heavenly  blessedness,  the  graces  and  the  joys  of 
the  upper  world  ;'  as  they  are  the  first  fruits  of  that 
paradise  to  which  we  are  travelling  :  And  tliese  pri- 
vileges  have  brought  some  of  the  saints  within  the 
verge  of  the  courts  of  heaven,  within  the  confines 
and  borders  of  the  celestial  countrv.  What  these  are 
I  shall  shew  immediately;  but  before  I  represent 
them  I  desire  to  lay  down  these  few  cautions. 

Caution  1.  *  These  sensible  foretastes  of  heaven 
do  not  belong  to  all  Christians  ;  these  are  not  such 
general  blessings  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  of  which 
every  Christian  is  made  partaker;'  but  they  are  spe- 
cial favours  now  and  then  bestowed  on  some  parti- 
cular persons  by  the  special  will  of  God.  (1.)  Such 
as  are  more  eminent  in  faith,  and  holiness,  and  pray- 
er than  others  are,   such  as  have  made  great  advan^;e. 


5S6  THC  FIRST  FRUITS  OF     THE  SPIRIT,      JilSCOURSE    X. 

ments  in  every  part  of  religion,  in  mortification  to 
the  world,  in  spiritual-mindedness,  in  humility,  and 
in  much  converse  with  God,  &c.  Or,  (2.)  Some- 
times these  first  fruits  may  be  given  unto  such  as 
^YC  weak  both  in  reason  and  in  fiiith,  and  may  be 
babes  in  Christ,  and  are  not  able  by  their  reasoning 
powers  to  search  out  their  evidences  for  heaven, 
especially  under  some  present  temptation  or  dark- 
ness. Or,  (3. )  Sometimes  to  those  who  are  called 
hy  providence  to  go  through  huge  and  uncommon 
trials  and  sullerings,  in  order  to  support  their  spirits, 
and  bear  up  their  courage,   their  faith  and  patience. 

It  is  true,  the  more  general  and  common  way 
whereby  God  prepares  his  people  for  heaven,  is  by 
leading  them  through  several  steps  of  advancing  ho- 
liness, sincere  repentance,  mortification  of  sin,  wean- 
edness  from  the  world,  likeness  to  God,  heavenly 
mindedness,  8j:c.  These  are  indeed  the  usual  prepa- 
ratives for  glory,  and  the  surest  evidences  of  a  state 
of  grace.  Therefore  let  not  any  person  imagine  he 
is  not  a  true  Christian,  because  he  hath  not  enjoy- 
ed these  special  fiivours  and  signal  manifestations. 

Cautloji  2.  '  If  there  be  any  who  have  been  fa- 
voured with  these  peculiar  blessings,  they  must  not 
expect  them  to  be  constant  and  perpetual,  nor  always 
to  be  given  in  the  same  manner  or  same  measure ;' 
they  are  rare  blessings  and  special  reviving  cordials ; 
they  are  not  the  common  food  of  Christians,  nor  the 
daily  nourishment  of  the  saints.  The  word  of  God,  and 
the  grace  of  Christ  in  the  promises  is  our  daily  sup- 
yorij  and  the    constant  nourishment  of  our  souls. 


DISCOURSE  X.      OR  THE  FORETASTE  OP  IIEAVLX.  387 

Cordials  are  not  given  for  our  daily  nourishment  n\ 
the  life  of  grace. 

Caution  3.  '  However  great  and  rapturous  these 
foretastes  may  be,  let  us  not  so  depend  on  them  as 
to  neglect  the  more  substantial  and  solid  evidences 
for  heaven,  and  those  steps  of  preparation'  which  I 
have  elsewhere  mentioned.  Let  not  those  who  have 
enjoyed  them  give  a  loose  to  their  souls,  and  let  go 
their  watchfulness,  or  neglect  their  daily  mortifica- 
tion and  diligence  in  every  duty.  Some  of  these  di- 
vine raptures  have  sometimes  been  so  nearly  coun- 
terfeited by  raptures  of  fancy,  by  warm  self-love,  or 
perhaps  by  the  deceit  of  evil  angels,  that  they  are  noi 
so  safe  a  foundation  for  our  dependence  and  assured 
hope,  as  the  souTs  experience  of  a  sincere  repentance, 
and  general  turn  of  heart  to  God,  and  mortification  o! 
sin,  and  delight  in  every  practice  of  holiness.  The 
devil  sometimes  **  has  transformed  himself  into  au 
angel  of  light,"  2  Cor.  x\,  14.  And  there  have  been 
some  who  at  first  hearing  of  the  gospel  have  had 
wondrous  raptures.  Ilcb.  v'.  4.  it  is  said,  *'  they 
have  tasted  of  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come,"  8cc- 
who  have  yet  fallen  away  again,  and  having  lost  ali 
their  sense  and  savour  of  divine  things,  have  become 
vile  apostates. 

Caution  4>.  *  If  you  seem  to  enjoy  any  of  these  affec- 
tionate and  rapturous  foretastes  of  heaven,  be  jealous 
of  the  truth  of  them,  if  they  have  not  a  proportionate 
sanctifying  influence  upon  your  souls  and  your  ac- 
tions-^ 


388  THE  riRfiT  TRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,      DISCOURSE  X. 

If  you  find  they  incline  you  to  negligence  in  duty, 
to  coldness  in  the  common  practices  of  religion  and 
godliness,  if  they  make  you  fancy  that  common  ordi- 
nances  are  a  low  and  needless  dispensation,  if  they 
seem  to  excuse  you  from  diligence  in  the  common 
duties  of  life  towards  man,  or  religion  towards  God, 
there  is  great  reason  then  to  suspect  them  :  There  is 
danger  lest  they  should  be  mere  suggestions  and  de- 
ceitful workings  either  of  your  own  natural  passions, 
or  the  crafty  snares  of  the  artful  and  busy  adversary 
of  souls,,  on  purpose  to  make  you  neglect  solid  reli- 
gion, and  make  you  part  with  what  is  substantial  for  a 
bright  and  flashy  glimpse  of  heavenly  things. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  you  find  that  these  spe- 
cial favours  and  enjoyments  raise  your  hearts  to  a 
greater  nearness  to  God,  and  more  constant  converse 
with  him;  if  they  keep  you  deep  in  humility,  and  in 
everlasting  dependence  on  the  grace  of  Christ  in  the 
gospel,  and  warm  and  zealous  attendance  on  the  or- 
dinances of  worship;  if  they  teach  and  incline  you  to 
fulfil  every  duty  of  love  to  your  neighbour,  and  par- 
ticularly to  your  fellow  Christians,  then  tliey  appear 
to  be  the  *  fruits  of  the  Spirit;'  and  as  they  fit  you 
for  every  duty  and  every  providence  hereupon  earth, 
there  is  very  good  reason  to  hope  they  are  real 
visits  from  heaven,  and  are  sent  from  the  God  of 
all  grace  to  make  you  more  meet  for  the  heavenly 
glory. 


DISCOURSE  X.       OR  THE  FORETAST£  OF  HEAVEN,  389 

SECTION  II. 

These  are  the  four  cautions,  I  proceed  now  to  de- 
scribe some  of  these  *  foretastes  of  the  heavenly- 
blessedness,'  and  shew  how  nearly  they  resemble  the 
blessedness  and  enjoyments  of  the  heavenly  world. 

First,  In  '  heaven  there  is  a  near  view  of  God  in 
his  glories,  with  such  a  fixed  contemplation  of  his 
several  perfections,  as  draws  out  the  heart  into  all 
correspondent  exercises,  in  an  uncommon,  transcend- 
ent, and  supreme  degree.'  It  is  described  as  one  of 
the  felicities  of  heaven,  that  **  we  shall  see  God." 
Matth.  v.  8.  that  we  shall  behold  him  "  liice  to  face," 
and  not  in  shadows  and  glasses,  1  Cor.  xiii.  12. 
Let  us  exhibit  some  particulars  of  this  kind,  and 
dwell  a  little  upon  them  in  the  most  easy  and  natural 
method. 

1.  In  heaven  the  blessed  inhabitants  'behold  the 
majesty  and  greatness  of  God'  in  such  a  light  as  fixes 
their  thoughts  in  glorious  w^onder  and  the  humblest 
adoration,  and  exalts  them  to  the  highest  pleasure  and 
praise.  Have  you  never  fallen  into  such  a  devout 
and  fixed  contemplation  of  the  '  majesty  of  God,'  as 
to  be  even  astonished  at  his  glory  and  greatness,  and 
to  have  your  souls  so  swallowed  up  in  this  sight,  that 
all  the  sorrows  and  the  joys  of  this  life,  all  the  busi- 
nesses and  necessities  of  it  hath  been  forgotten  for  a 
season,  all  things  below  and  beneath  God  have  seem- 
ed as  nothing  in  your  eyes?  All  the  grandeurs  and 
splendors  of  mortality  have  been  buried  in  darkness 


396  TH£  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,       DISCOURSE  X. 

and  oblivion,  and  creatures  have,  as  it  were,  vanish- 
ed  from  the  thoughts  and  been  lost,  as  the  stars  die 
and  vanish  at  the  rising  sun  and  are  no  more  seen  ? 
Have  you  never  seen  the  face  of  God  in  his  sublime 
grandeur,  excellence  and  majesty,  so  as  to  shrink  in- 
to the  dust  before  him,  and  lie  low  at  his  foot  with 
humblest  adoration  ?  And  you  have  been  transport- 
ed into  a  feeling  acknowledgment  of  your  own  no- 
thingness in  the  presence  of  God.  Such  a  sight  the 
prophet  Isaiah  seems  to  have  enjoyed,  Isai.  xl.  12, 
15,  17.  *' Behold  the  nations  before  him  are  as  the 
drop  of  the  bucket,  and  as  the  small  dust  of  the  bal- 
ance, he  taketh  up  the  isles  as  a  very  little  thing. 
All  nations  before  him  are  as  nothing,  they  are  count- 
ed to  him  less  than  nothing  and  vanity." 

When  the  lips  are  not  only  directed  to  speak  this 
sublime  language,  but  the  soul,  as  it  were,  beholds 
God  in  these  heights  of  transcendent  pajesty,  it  is 
overwhelmed  with  blessed  wt)nder  and  surprising  de- 
light, even  while  it  adores  in  most  profound  lowliness 
and  self-abasement.  This  is  the  emblem  of  the  wor- 
ship of  the  heavenly  world,  see  Rev.  iv.  10.  where  the 
elders,  saints  and  prophets,  martyrs,  angels,  and  do- 
minions, and  principalities  of  the  highest  degree 
**cast  down  their  crowns"  at  the  foot  of  him  that  made 
them,  and  exalt  God  in  his  supremacy  ove-r  all. 

2.  In  heaven  there  are  such  blessed  and  extensive 
surveys  of  the  *  infinite  knowledge  of  God,*  and  his 
amazing  wisdom  discovered  in  his  works,  as  makes 
even  all  their  own  heavenly  improvements  in  know- 
ledge and  understanding  to  appear  as  mere  ignorance, 


DISCOURSE  ^.       OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF   HEAVEN.  391 

darkness,  and  folly  before  him.  In  such  an  hour  as 
this  is,  the  holy  angels  may  charge  themselves  with 
folly  in  his  sight,  as  he  beholds  them  in  the  imperfec- 
tion of  their  understanding.  Now  have  you  never 
been  carried  away  in  your  meditations  of  the  all-corn-' 
prehensive  knowledge  of  God  to  such  a  degree,  as  to 
lose  and  abandon  all  your  former  pride  and  appear- 
ances  of  knowledge  and  wisdom  in  all  the  native  and 
acquired  riches  of  it,  and  count  them  all  as  nothing 
in  his  sight?  Have  you  never  looked  upward  to  the 
midnight  skies,  and  with  amazement  sent  your 
thoughts  upward  to  him  who  *  calls  all  the  stars  by 
their  names,'  and  brings  them  forth  in  all  their  spark- 
ling  glories,  who  marshals  them  in  their  nigluly  ranks 
and  orders,  and  then  stood  overwhelmed  with  sacred 
astonishment  at  the  wisdom  which  made  and  ranged 
them  all  in  their  proper  situations,  and  there  appoint- 
ed them  to  fulfil  ten  thousand  useful  purposes,  and 
that  not  only  towards  this  little  ball  of  Earth,  but  to 
a  multitude  of  upper  planetary  worlds  ?  Have  you 
never  enquired  into  the  wonders  of  his  wisdom  in 
framing  the  bodies,  the  limbs,  and  the  senses  of  mil- 
lions of  animals,  birds,  and  beasts,  fishes,  and  insects, 
as  well  as  men  all  around  this  globe,  and  who  hath 
framed  all  their  organs  and  powers  of  nature  with 
exquisite  skill,  to  see  and  hear,  to  run  and  fly,  and 
swim,  to  produce  their  young  in  all  their  proper 
forms  and  sizes,  furnished  with  their  various  powers, 
and  to  feed  and  nourish  them  in  their  innumerable 
shapes  and  colours,  admirable  for  their  strength  and 
beauty  't  And  have  you  not  felt  your  souls  filled  with 


392  THE  FiRtT  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,      DISJCOURSE  X, 

devout  adoration  at  the  unspeakable  and  infinite  con- 
trivances of  a  God. 

And  not  only  his  *  works  of  creation,'  but  of  his 
pro'oidence  too,  have  afforded  some  pious  souls  such 
devout  amazement.  What  astonishing  wisdom  must 
that  be  which  has  created  mankind  on  earth  near  six 
thousand  years  ago,  and  by  his  divine  word  in  every 
age  continues  to  create  them  or  give  them  being, 
with  all  the  same  natural  powers  and  parts,  beauties 
and  excellencies!  That  he  hath  wisely  governed  so 
many  millions  of  animals  with  living  souls  or  spirits 
in  them,  so  many  millions  of  intelligent  creatures, 
endued  with  a  free  will  of  their  own  to  choose  or  re- 
fuse what  they  will  or  will  not  do,  and  hath  managed 
this  innumerable  company  of  beings  in  all  ages,  not- 
withstanding all  their  different  and  clashing  opinions 
and  customs,  their  crossing  humours,  wills  and  pas- 
sions in  endless  variety,  and  yet  hath  made  them  ail 
subservient  to  his  own  comprehensive  designs  and 
purposes  through  all  ages  of  the  world  and  all  nations 
on  earth  !  What  unconceivable  wisdom  is  that  which 
hath  effectually  appointed  them  all  to  centre  in  the 
accomplishment  of  his  own  eternal  counsels  !  And 
with  what  overwhelming  amazement  will  this  scene 
appear,  when  he  shall  shut  up  the  theatre  of  this 
earth,  and  fold  up  these  heavens  as  a  curtain >  and  this 
visible  structure  of  things  shall  be  laid  in  ashes? 
What  an  astonishing  view  must  this  be  of  the  all- 
surveying  knowledge^  all-comprehending  wisdom  of  a 
God,  and  with  what  holy  and  humble  pleasure  must 
the  pious  soul  be  filled  who  takes  in  and  enjoys  this 


DISCOURSE  X.       OR  THE  TORETASTE  Of  HEAVEf^.  393 

scene  of  infinite  varieties  and  wonders  ?  How  near 
doth  such  an  hour  approach  to  the  bliss  of  heaven  and 
the  raptures  of  contemplation,  which  belong  to  the 
blessed  inhabitants  of  it  ? 

3.  I  might  add  something  of  the  Almighty  power 
of  God  in  his  creation  and  government  of  the  world, 
in  his  kingdoms  of  nature  and  providence.  Did  not 
the  angels  r'djoice  at  the  birth-day  of  this  universe, 
and  *'  those  morning  stars  shout  for  joy"  at  the  first 
appearance  of  this  creation  ?  And  what  the  inhabit- 
ants of  heaven  make  their  song,  may  not  a  holy  soul 
be  entertained  with  it,  even  to  extacy  and  rapture  > 
I  behold,  says  he,  in  divine  meditation,  I  behold  this 
huge  structure  of  the  universe  rising  out  of  nothing 
at  the  voice  of  his  command ;  I  behold  the  several 
planets  in  their  various  orders  set  a  moving  by  the 
same  word  of  power.  With  what  delightful  surprise 
do  I  hear  him  pronouncing  the  words,  '*  let  there  be 
light,"  and,  lo  *  the  light  appears?'  Let  there  be 
earth  and  seas  ;  let  there  be  clouds  and  heavens  ;  let 
there  be  sun,  moon  and  stars,  and  lo  the  heavens,  and 
the  dry  land,  and  the  waters  appear,  the  clouds  and 
the  stars  in  their  various  order  and  situation,  and  all 
the  parts  of  the  creation  ajise,  all  replenished  with 
proper  ornaments  and  animals  according  to  his  word. 
At  his  command  nature  exists  in  all  its  regions  with 
all  its  furniture  ;  the  beasts,  and  birds,  and  fishes  in 
all  their  forms  arise,  and  at  once  they  obey  the  several 
Almighty  orders  he  gave,  and  by  the  unknown  and 
unconceivable  force  of  such  a  word  they  leap  out  into 
existence  in  ten  thousand  forms. 


S94  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,      DISCOURSE  X. 

Again,  what  divine  pleasure  is  it  to  hear  a  God 
beginning  the  work  of  his  providence,  and  speaking 
those  wondrous  words'  of  power  to  every  plant  and 
animal,  '*  be  fniitfal,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the 
earth,"  and  lo,  in  a  long  succession  of  near  six  thou- 
sand years  the  earth  has  been  covered  all  over  wi*h 
herbs  and  plants,  with  shrubs  and  tall  trees  in  all  their 
beauty  and  dimensions.  The  air  hath  been  filled 
with  birds  and  insects,  the  seas  and  rivers  with  fish, 
and  the  dry  land  with  beasts  and  men  even  to  this 
present  day.  When  all  this  philosophy  is  changed 
into  devotion,  it  must  also  be  transformed  into  divine 
and  unutterable  joy. 

Nor  are  these  things  too  low  and  mean  for  the  con- 
templation of  heavenly  beings:  For  God  is  seen  in  all 
of  them:  There  is  not  a  spire  of  grass  but  the  power 
and  wisdom  of  a  God  are  visible  therein.  And  it  is 
certain  the  heavenly  beings  must  be  sometimes  em- 
ployed in  the  contemplation  of  many  of  these  lower 
wonders.  The  plants  and  beasts  in  desolate  regions 
where  no  man  inhabits,  and  in  distant  and  foreign 
oceans  and  rivers,  where  the  fishy  shoals  in  all  their 
variety  and  numbers,  in  all  their  successions  and 
generations  for  near  six  thousand  years  were  never 
seen  nor  known  by  any  of  the  sons  of  men ;  these 
seem  to  have  been  created  in  vain,  if  no  heavenly  be- 
ings are  acquainted  with  them,  nor  raise  a  revenue  of 
glory  to  him  that  made  them. 

This  Almighty  power  therefore  which  made  this 
huge  universe,  which  sustains  the  frame  of  it  every 
moment,  and  secures  it  from  dissolving ;  this  power 


DISCOURSE  X.       OR,THE  rORfiTASTE  OF  H£AVEN.  305 

which  brings  forth  the  stars  in  their  order,  and  worms 
and  creeping  things  in  their  innumerable  millions, 
and  governs  all  the  motions  of  tliem  to  the  purposes 
of  divine  glory,  must  needs  affect  a  contemplative 
soul  with  raptures  of  pleasing  meditation ;  and  in 
these  sublime  meditations,  by  the  aids  of  the  divine 
Spirit,  a  soul  on  earth  may  get  rtear  to  heaven.  And 
with  what  reUgious  and  unknown  pleasure  at  such  a 
season  doth  it  shrink  its  own  being  as  it  were  into 
an  atom,  and  lie  in  the  dust  and  adore  ! 

4.  The  '  all-sufficiency  of  the  great  God  to  form 
and  to  supply  every  creature  with  all  that  it  can  want 
or  desire,'  is  another  perfection  of  the  divine  nature, 
which  is  better  known  in  heaven  than  it  ever  w^as  here 
on  earth,  and  affords  another  scene  of  astonishment 
and  sacred  delight :  And  there  may  be  some  ad- 
vances towards  this  pleasure  found  among  saints  be- 
lov/,  some  first  fruits  of  this  heavenly  felicity  and  joy 
in  the  all-sufficiency  of  God. 

My  whole  self,  body  and  mind,  is  from  God  and 
from  him  alone.  All  my  limbs  and  powers  of  flesli 
and  spirit  were  derived  from  him,  and  borrowed  their 
first  existence  from  their  original  pattern  in  his  fruit- 
ful mind.  All  that  I  have  of  life  or  comfort,  of  breath 
or  being,  with  all  my  blessings  round  about  me,  is 
owing  to  his  boundless  and  eternal  fulness ;  and  all 
my  long  reaching  hopes  and  endless  expectations  that 
stretch  far  into  futurity,  and  an  eternal  v.oild,  are 
growing  out  of  this  same  all-suilicient  fulness. 

But  what  do  1  think  or  speak  of  so  little  a  trifie  as 
I  am  ?  Stretch  thy  thoui];hls,  O  my  soul>  througli  the 


396  THE  rj-RST  TKUITS  OF  THE    SPIRIT,       DISCOURSE    X. 

lengths,  and  breadths,  and  depths  of  his  creation,  O 
what  an  unconceivable  fulness  of  being,  glory,  and 
excellency  is  found  in  God  the  universal  parent  and 
spring  of  all !  What  an  inexhaustible  ocean  of  being 
and  life,  of  perfection  and  blessedness  must  our  God 
be,  who  supplies  all  the  infinite  armies  of  his  crea- 
tures in  all  his  known  and  unknown  dominions  with 
life  and  motion,  with  breath  and  activity,  with  food 
and  support,  with  satisfaction  and  delight  !  Who 
maintains  the  vital  powers  and  faculties  of  all  the  spi- 
rits which  he  hath  made  in  all  the  visible  and  invisi- 
ble worlds,  in  all  his  territories  of  light,  and  peace, 
and  joy,  and  in  all  the  regions  of  darkness,  punish- 
ment and  misery !  In  him  all  things  '*  live  and  move, 
and  have  their  beings,"  Acts  xvii.  28.  Psal.  civ» 
29.  **  He  withdraws  his  breath  and  they  die."  He 
hath  writ  down  all  their  names  in  his  ow^i  mind,  he 
gives  them  all  their  natures,  and  without  him  there 
is  nothing,  there  can  be  nothing  ;  all  nature  without 
him  would  h^ve  been  a  perpetual  blaiik,  an  universal 
emptiness,  an  everlasting  void,  and  with  one  turn 
of  his  will  he  could  sink  and  dissolve  all  nature  into 
its  original  nothing. 

Confess,  O  my  soul,  thy  own  nothingness  in  his 
presence,  and  with  astonishing  pleasure  and  worship 
adore  his  fulness:  He  is  thy  everlasting  all.  Be 
thy  dependence  ever  fixed  upon  him;  thou  canst 
not,  thou  shalt  not  live  a  moment  without  him,  with- 
out this  habitual  dependence,  and  a  frequent  delight- 
ful acknowledgment  of  it.  Such  a  devout  frame  as 
this,  is  heaven,  and  such  scenes  now^  aqd  then  pass- 


DISCOURSE  K.        OR  THE  FORETASTE  OE  HEAVEIT.  397 

ing  through  the  soul,  are  glimpses  of  the  heavenly- 
blessedness. 


SECTION  III. 

Though  the  eternity  and  immensity  of  God  might 
perhaps,  in  their  own  nature,  and  in  the  reason  of 
things,  be  first  mentioned,  yet  his  majesty,  his  pow- 
er^  and  his  wisdom  in  their  sovereign  excellency 
strike  the  souls  of  creatures  more  immediately,  there- 
fore I  have  put  these  first.  However,  let  us  now  con- 
sider the  eternity  of  the  great  God  and  his  omnipre- 
sence, and  think  how  the  spirits  in  heaven  are  af- 
fected therewith,  and  what  kindred  meditations  may 
be  derived  from  these  perfections  by  the  saints  here 
on  earth.    I  proceed  therefore, 

5.  To  the  eternity  of  God  :  Which  though  the 
most  exalted  spirit  in  heaven  cannot  comprehend, 
yet  it  is  probable  they  have  some  nearer  and  clearer 
discovery  of  it  than  we  can  have  here  in  this  mortal 
state,  while  we  dwell  in  flesh  and  blood.  We  have 
nothing  in  this  visible  world  that  gives  us  so  much 
as  an  example  or  similitude  of  it.  The  great  God 
^'  who  is,  who  was,'*  and  **  who  is  to  come"  through 
all  ages,  he  is,  and  ivas,  and  for  ever  will  he  the  same. 
l^et  us  go  back  as  many  thousand  ages  as  we  can  in 
our  thoughts,  and  still  an  eternal  God  was  before 
them  ;  a  Being  that  had  no  beginning  of  his  exiijt- 
ence,  nor  will  have  any  end  of  his  life  or  duration. 
And  as  he  says  to  Moses,  my  name  is  I  am  that  I  am^ 
so  as  there  is  nothing  which  had  anv  hand  in  his  be- 


898  THIS.  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,     DISCOURSE    Xo 

ing,  but  all  the  reasons  of  it  are  derived'from  his  own 
self-fulness,  therefore  we  may  say  of  him  that  be  is 
because  he  is,  and  because  he  will  be  :  He  had  no 
spring  of  his  first  beginning,  nor  any  cause  of  his 
continued  existence,  but  what  is  vviihin  himself. 
We  can  never  set  ourselves  in  too  mean  a  light  when 
an  eternal  God  is  near  us  ;  and  every  thing  besides 
God  can  be  but  little  in  our  eyes. 

And,  O  my  thinking  powers,  are  ye  not  sweetly 
lost  in  this  holy  rapture,  and  overpowered  with  di- 
vine pleasure,  O  my  soul  in  such  meditation  as  this  ? 
Art  thou  not  delightfully  surprised  with  the  thoughts 
of  such  self-sufficience  and  such  an  unconceivable 
perfection  ?  Thy  being  considered  as  here  in  this 
life,  is  not  so  much  in  the  sight  of  God  as  an  atom  in 
comparison  of  the  whole  earth ;  and  even  the  sup- 
posed future  ages  of  thy  existence  in  the  eternal  state 
are  unconceivably  short,  when  compared  with  the 
glory  of  that  Being  that  never  began  his  life  or  his 
duration. 

Many  things  here  on  earth  concur  towards  my  sa- 
tisfaction  and  peace,  but  if  I  have  God  my  friend,  1 
have  all  in  him  that  I  can  possibly  want  or  desire. 
Let  me  then  live  no  longer  upon  creatures  when  God 
is  all. 

Let  sun,  moon  and  stars  vanish,  and  all  this  vi- 
sible  creation  disappear  and  be  for  ever  annihilated 
if  God  please,  he  himself  is  still  my  eternal  hope  and 
licverfailing  spring  of  all  my  blessedness  :  My  ex- 
I)ectations  are  continually  safe  in  his  hands,  and  shall 


DISCOURSE  X.        OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.  C}^ 

never  fail  while  I  am  so  near  to  him.     This  is  joy 
unspeakable  and  a-kin  to  glory. 

6.  Let  us  meditate  also  on  the  iinmenshy  of  God, 
which  I  think  is  much  better  expressed  by  his  oimii- 
presence.  God  is  wheresoever  any  creature  is  or  can 
be ;  knowing  immediately  by  his  own  presence  all 
that  belongs  to  them,  all  that  they  arc  or  can  be,  all 
that  they  do  or  can  do,  all  that  concerns  them,  whe- 
ther their  sins  or  their  virtues,  their  pains  or  their 
pleasures,  their  hopes  or  their  fears.  It  implies  also 
that  he  doth  by  his  immediate  power  and  influence 
support  and  govern  all  the  creatures.  In  short,  this 
Immensity  is  nothing  else  but  the  infinite  extent  of  his 
knowledge  and  his  power,  and  it  reaches  to  and  be- 
yond all  places,  as  eternity  reaches  to  and  beyond  all 
time.  This  the  blessed  above  know  and  rejoice  in, 
and  take  infinite  satisfaction  therein  :  Having  God, 
as  it  were,  surrounding  them  on  all  sides,  so  that  they 
cannot  be  where  he  is  not,  he  is  ever  present  with 
his  all-sufficiency  ready  to  bestow  on  them  all  they 
wish  or  desire  while  he  continues  their  God,  i.  e.  for 
ever  and  ever.  They  are  under  the  blessing  of  his 
eye,  and  the  care  of  his  hand,  to  guard  them  from 
every  evil,  and  to  secure  their  peace. 

Let  thy  flesh  or  spirit  be  surrounded  with  ever  so 
many  thousand  dangers  or  enemies,  they  cannot  do 
thee  the  least  damage  without  his  leave  by  force  or 
by  surprise  while  such  an  Almighty  Being  is  all 
around  thee :  Nor  hast  thou  reason  to  indulge  any 
fear  while  the  spring  and  ocean  of  all  life,  activity, 
and  blessedness  thus  secures  thee  ow  every  side.     If 


400  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPlKiT,      DISCOURSE  X. 

thou  hast  the  evidences  of  his  children  on  thee,  thou 
possessest  an  eternal  security  of  thy  peace. 

7.  *  The  sovereignty  and  dominion'  of  the  blessed 
God  is  a  further  meditation  and  pleasure  which  be- 
comes and  adorns  the  inhabitants  of  the  heavenly 
world.  There  he  reigns  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory, 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  territories  which  are  sub- 
ject to  him  are  less  in  their  view  than  our  scanty 
powers  of  nature  or  perception  can  now  apprehend, 
and  a  proportionable  degree  of  pleasure  is  found  with 
the  saints  above  in  these  contemplations. 

But  in  our  present  state  of  mortality  our  souls  can 
only  look  through  these  lattices  of  flesh  and  blood,- 
and  make  a  few  scanty  and  imperfect  inferences  from 
what  they  always  see,  and  hear,  and  feel :  And  yet 
tlie  glorious  sovereignty  and  dominion  of  the  blessed 
God  may  so  penetrate  the  soul  with  a  divine  sense  of 
it  here  on  earth,  as  to  Taise  up  a  heaven  of  wonder 
and  joy  within. 

Adore  him,  O  my  soul,  who  surveys  and  rules  all 
things  which  he  has  made  with  an  absolute  authority, 
and  is  for  ever  uncontroulable.  How  righteous  a 
thing  is  it  that  he  should  give  laws  to  all  the  beings 
which  his  hand  hath  formed,  which  his  breath  hath 
spoken  into  life,  and  especially  that  rank  which  his 
favour  bath  furnished  v/ith  immortality  ?  How  just 
that  he  should  be  obeyed  by  every  creature  without 
the  least  reluctance  or  reserve,  without  a  moment's 
delay,  and  that  to  all  the  length  of  their  existence? 

Submit  to  his  government  with  pleasure^  O  my 
nature,  and  be  all  ye  my  powers  of  soul  and  body  in 


©ISCOURSE  X.       OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.  401 

everlasting  readiness  to  do  whatsoever  he  requires, 
and  to  be  whatsoever  he  appoints.  Wilt  thou  have 
me,  O  Lord,  lie  under  sickness  or  pain,  wilt  thou 
have  me  languish  under  weakness  and  confinement? 
I  am  at  thy  foot,  I  am  for  ever  at  thy  disposal.  Wilt 
thou  have  me  active  and  vigorous  in  thy  service  ? 
Lord,  I  am  ready  with  utmost  cheerfulness.  Wilt 
thou  confine  me  to  painful  idleness  and  long  patience? 
Lord  here  I  am,  do  .with  me  what  secnieth  good 
unto  thee,  I  am  ready  to  serve  thy  purposes  here, 
or  thy  orders  in  the  unknown  world  of  spirits,  when 
thou  shalt  dissolve  this  mortal  frame  :  I  lay  down 
these  limbs  in  the  dust  of  death  at  thy  command  :  I 
venture  into  the  regions  of  angels  and  unbodied  minds 
at  thy  summons.  I  will  be  what  thou  wilt,  I  v/ill  go 
when  thou  wilt,  I  will  dwell  where  thou  wilt,  for  thou 
art  always  with  me,  and  I  am  entirely  thine.  I  both 
rejoice  and  tremble  at  thy  sovereignty  and  dominion 
over  all.  God  cannot  do  injury  to  a  creature  who  is 
so  entirely  his  own  property;  God  will  not  deal  un- 
Jcindly  with  a  creature  who  is  so  sensible  of  his  just 
dominion  and  supremacy,  and  which  bows  at  the 
foot  of  his  sovereignty  with  so  much  relish  of  satis- 
faction. 

8.  Let  us  next  take  notice  of  the  perfect  purity  of 
the  nature  of  God,  his  universal  holiness  ^  the  rectitude 
of  the  divine  nature  manifested  in  all  his  thoughts, 
his  works,  and  his  words,  all  perfectly  agreeable  to 
the  eternal  rules  of  truth  and  righteousness,  and  at 
the  furthest  distance  from  every  thing  that  is  false 
and  faulty,   every  thing  that  is  or  can  be  dishonour- 


402  THE  riRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,      DISCOURSE    X. 

able  to  so  glorious  a  Being.  Have  we  never  seen 
God  in  this  light,  in  the  glory  of  his  holiness, 
his  universal  rectitude,  and  the  everlasting  har- 
mony of  all  his  perfections  in  exact  correspondence 
with  all  the  notions  we  can  have  of  truth  and  reason? 
And  has  not  God  appeared  then  as  a  glorious  and 
lovely  Being  ?  And  have  we  not  at  the  same  time  be- 
held ourselves  as  unclean,  and  unholy  creatures,  in 
one  part  "or  other  of  our  natures,  ever  ready  to  jar  or 
fall  out  with  some  of  the  most  pure  and  perfect  rules 
of  holiness,  justice  or  truth?  Have  we  not  seen  all  our 
sins  and  iniquities  in  this  light,  with  utmost  abhor- 
rence and  highest  hatred  of  them,  and  looked  down 
upon  ourselves  with  a  deep  and  overwhelming  sense 
of  shame  and  displicence  against  our  depraved  and 
corrupted  natures,  and  abased  ourselves  as  Job  does, 
in  dust  and  ashes,  and  not  daring  to  open  our  mouths 
before  him  ?  Job  xlii.  6.  **  I  have  heard  of  thee  by 
the  hearing  of  the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth  thee, 
and  I  abhor  myself  in  dust  and  ashes."  The  least 
spot  or  blemish  of  sin  grows  highly  offensive  and 
painful  to  the  eyes  of  a  saint  in  this  situation. 

Every  little  warping  from  truth  in  our  conversa- 
tion, every  degree  of  insincerity  or  fraud  becomes  a 
smarting  uneasiness  to  the  mind  in  the  remembrance 
of  our  past  follies  in  the  present  state.  There  is  the 
highest  abhorrence  of  sin  among  all  the  heavenly  in- 
habitants, and  this  sight  of  God  in  the  beauties  of  his 
holiness,  and  his  perfect  rectitude,  is  an  everlasting 
preservative  to  holy  souls  against  the  admission  of  an 
impure  or  unholy  thought :  And  therefore  some  di- 


DISCOURSE  X.       OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.  403 

vines  have  supposed,  that  the  angels  at  their  first 
creation  were  put  into  a  state  of  trial  before  they  were 
admitted  to  this  full  sight  of  the  beauty  of  God  in  his 
holiness,  which  would  have  secured  them  from  the 
least  thought  or  step  towards  apostacy. 

O  my  soul,  of  what  happy  importance  it  is  to  thee 
to  maintain,  as  long  as  possible,  this  sense  of  the 
purity^  rectitude  and  perfection  of  the  nature  of  the 
blessed  God,  *'  who  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold 
iniquity,"  with  the  least  regard  of  approbation  or 
allowance  ?  And  what  infinite  condescension  is  it  in 
such  a  God  to  find  out  and  appoint  a  way  of  grace, 
whereby  such  shameful  polluted  creatures  as  we  are 
should  ever  be  admitted  into  his  presence  to  make 
the  least  address  to  his  majesty,  or  to  hope  for  his 
favour  > 

Besides,  in  this  sublime  view  of  the  holiness  of 
God,  we  shall  not  only  love  God  better  than  ever,  as 
we  see  him  more  amiable  under  this  view  of  his  glo- 
rious attributes,  but  we  shall  grow  more  sincere  and 
fervent  in  our  love  to  all  that  is  holy,  to  every  fellow 
Christian,  to  every  saint  in  heaven  and  on  earth:  We 
shall  not  bear  any  estrangedness  or  alienation  from 
those  who  have  so  much  of  the  likeness  of  God  in 
them.  They  will  ever  appear  to  be  the  *'  excellent 
of  the  earth,  in  whom  is  all  our  delight:"  Their  sup- 
posed blemishes  will  vanish  at  the  thought  of  their 
likeness  to  God  in  holiness:  And  especially  our  bless- 
ed Lord  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  will  be  most  precious 
and  all- glorious  in  our  eyes  as  he  is  the  most  perfect 
image  of  his  Father's  holiness.     There  is  nothing  in 


404  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,      DISCOURSE  X,' 

the  blessed  God,  but  the  man  Christ  Jesus  bears  a 
proportionable  resemblance  to  it,  as  far  as  a  creature 
can  resemble  God,  and  he  will  consequently  be  high- 
est in  our  esteem  under  God  the  Lord  and  Father  of 
all. 

9.  The  ever-pleasing  attribute  of  divine  '  goodness 
and  love'  is  another  endless  and  joyful  theme  or  ob- 
ject of  the  contemplation  of  the  heavenly  world. 
Thepe  this  perfection  shines  in  its  brightest  rays,' 
there  it  displays  its  most  triumphant  glories,  and 
kindles  a  flame  of  everlasting  joy  in  all  the  sons  of 
blessedness. 

But  we  in  this  world  may  have  such  glimpses  of 
this  goodness  and  love  as  may  fill  the  soul  with 
unspeakable  pleasure,  and  begin  in  it  the  first  fruits 
and  earnest  of  heaven.  When  we  survey  the  inex- 
haustible ocean  of  goodness  which  is  in  God,  w^hich 
fills  and  supplies  all  the  creatures  with  every  thing 
they  stand  in  need  of;  when  we  behold  all  the  tribes 
of  the  sons  of  men  supported  by  his  boundless  suffi- 
ciency, his  bounty  and  kind  providence,  and  refresh- 
ed with  a  thousand  comforts  beyond  what  the  mere 
necessities  of  nature  requVe  :  In  such  an  hour  if  we 
feel  the  least  Rowings  of  goodness  in  ourselves  to- 
wards others,  we  shaH  humble  ourselves  to  the  dust, 
and  cry  out  in  holy  amazement,  Lord,  what  is  an 
atom  to  a  mountain?  What  is  a  drop  to  a  river,  a 
sea  of  beneficence  ?  What  is  a  shadow  to  the  eternal 
substance?  What  good  thing  is  there  in  time  or  in 
cternhy,  which  I  can  possibly  want  which  is  not 
abundantly  supplied  out  of  thine  overflowing  fulness  ' 


DISCOURSE  X.       OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.  405 

Hence  arises  the  eternal  satisfaction  of  all  the  holy  and 
happy  creation  in  being  so  near  to  thee,  and  under 
the  everlasting  assurances  of  thy  love.  I  can  do  no- 
thing but  fall  down  before  thee  in  deepest  humihty, 
and  admire,  adore,  and  everlastingly  love  thee,  who 
hast  assumed  to  thyself  the  name  of  love,  1  John  iv, 
8.  ''God  is  love." 

SECTION  IV. 

Thus  far  our  joys  may  rise  into  an  imitation  of  the 
joys  above  in  the  devout  '  contemplation  of  divine 
perfections.' 

And  not  only  the  *  perfections  of  God'  considered 
and  surveyed  single  in  themselves,  but  the  imlon  and 
blessed  harmony  of  many  of  them  in  the  divine  works 
and  transactions  of  Providence  and  of  grace,  espe- 
cially in  the  gospel  of  Christ,  administer  further  mat- 
ter for  .contemplation  and  pleasure  among  the  happy 
spirits  in  heaven  :  And  so  far  as  this  enjoyment  may 
be  communicated  to  the  saints  here  on  earth,  they 
may  be  also  said  to  have  a  foretaste  of  the  business 
and  pleasure  of  heaven.  Let  us  take  notice  of  this 
harmony  in  several  instances. 

1.  In  the  sacred  constitution  of  the  person  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  God  and  man  united  in  one  per- 
sonal agent :  Here  majesty  and  mercy  give  a  glorious 
instance  of  their  union,  here  all  the  grandeur  aiid 
dignity  of  Godhead  condescends  to  join  itself  in 
union  v/ith  a  creature,  such  as  man  is,  a  si)irit  dwell- 
ing in  ikbh  and  blood.      1  Tim.  ii.  5.  "  There  is  one 

I'   3 


406  THE  riRST  TRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,      DISCOURSE  X^ 

God,  and  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  even 
the  man  Christ  Jesus  :"  But  this  man  is  personally 
united  to  the  blessed  God,  he  is  ''  God  manifested 
in  the  flesh  :"  He  is  a  man  in  *'  whom  dwells  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,"  to  constitute  one  all- 
sufficient  Saviour  of  miserable  and  fallen  mankind  : 
What  an  amazing  stoop  or  condescension  is  this  for 
the  eternal  Godhead  thus  to  join  itself  to  a  creature, 
'and  what  a  surprising  exaltation  is  this  of  the  creature, 
for  the  man  Christ  Jesus  thus  to  be  assumed  into  so 
near  a  relation  to  the  blessed  God  ?  All  the  glories 
that  result  from  this  divine  contrivance  and  transac- 
tion are  not  to  be  enumerated  in  paper,  nor  by  the  best 
capacity  of  writers  here  on  earth  :  The  heavenly  in- 
habitants arc  much  better  acquainted  with  them. 

Again,  here  is  an  example  of  the  harmony  and 
co-operation  of  unsearchable  wisdom  and  all-com- 
manding power  in  the  person  of  the  blessed  Jesus; 
and  what  a  happy  design  is  hereby  executed,  namely, 
the  reconciliation  of  sinful  man  and  the  holy  and  glo- 
rious God  :  and  who  could  do  this  but  one  who  was 
possessed  of  such  wisdom  and  such  power  ?  When 
there  was  no  creature  in  heaven  or  earth  sufficient 
for  this  work,  Gcd  was  pleased  to  appoint  such  an 
union  between  a  creature  and  Creator,  between  God 
and  man,  as  might  answer  all  the  inconceivable  pur- 
poses concealed  in  his  thought.  If  there  be  wanting 
a  person  fit  to  execute  any  of  his  infinite  designs,  he 
will  not  be  frustrated  for  want  of  an  agent,  he  will 
appoint  God  and  man  to  be  so  nearly  united  as  to  be-^ 
come  one  agent  to  execute  this  design. 


DISCOURSE  X.      OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.  407 

2.  *  In  the  manner  of  our  salvation,'  (viz.)  by  an 
*  atonement  for  sin.'  The  great  God  did  not  think 
it  proper,  nor  agreeable  to  his  sublime  holiness,  to  re- 
ceive sinful  man  into  his  favour  without  an  atone- 
ment for  sin,  and  a  satisfaction  made  to  the  Gov- 
ernor of  the  virorld  for  the  abuse  and  violation  of  his 
holy  law  here  on  earth ;  and  therefore  he  appointed 
such  a  sacrifice  of  atonement  as  might  be  sufficient 
to  do  complete  honour  to  the  law-giver,  as  well  as  to 
save  and  deliver  the  offender  from  death  :  Therefore 
Jesus  was  made  a  man  capable  of  suffering  and  dying, 
that  he  might  honour  the  majesty  and  the  justice  of 
the  broken  law  of  God,  and  that  he  might  do  it  com- 
pletely by  the  union  of  Godhead  to  this  man  and  Me- 
diator ;  the  dignity  of  whose  divinity  diffuses  itself 
over  all  that  he  did  and  all  that  he  suffered,  so  as  to 
make  his  obedience  completely  acceptable  to  God 
instead  of  thousands  of  creatures,  and  fully  satisfac- 
tory for  the  offence  that  was  given  him  by  them  ; 
here  is  a  sacrifice  provided  equal  to  the  guilt  of  sin, 
and  therefore  sufficient  to  take  it  away. 

You  see  here  what  a  blessed  harmony  there  is  be- 
tween the  justice  of  God  doing  honour  to  his  own  law, 
and  his  compassion  resolved  to  save  a  ruined  creature: 
Here  is  no  blemish  cast  upon  the  strict  justice  and 
righteousness  of  God,  when  the  offender  is  forgiven 
in  such  a  method  as  may  do  honour  to  justice  and 
mercy  at  once.  Rom.  iii.  24,  25.  <*We  are  justified 
freely  by  his  grace  through  the  redemption  that  is  in 
Jesus  Christ ;  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  pro- 
pitiation through  faith  in  his  blood,   to   declare  hh 


408  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE   SPIRIT,      DISCOURSE  X. 

righteousness,"  even  his  perfect  governing  justice, 
though  he  passes  by  and  pardons  the  sins  of  a  thou- 
sand criminal  creatures:  *  To  declare,'  I  say,  <  at 
this  time  his  righteousness,  that  he  might  appear  to 
be  just'  to  his  own  authority  and  law,  while  he  justi- 
fies the  sinful  man  who  believeth  or  trusteth  in  Jesus 
the  Mediator  as  becoming  a  proper  sacrifice  and  pro- 
pitiation for  sin. 

3.  By  the  *  sanctification  of  our  nature.'  There  is 
also  another  remarkable  harmony  between  the  holi- 
ness of  God  and  his  mercy  in  this  work  of  the  salva- 
tion of  sinful  man.  The  guilt  of  sin  is  not  only  to  be 
forgiven  and  taken  away  by  a  complete  atonement 
and  sacrifice,  but  the  sinful  nature  of  this  ruined 
creature  is  to  be  changed  into  holiness,  is  to  be  re- 
newed and  sanctified  by  the  blessed  Spirit,  and  re- 
formed into  the  image  of  God  his  Maker  :  He  must 
not  only  be  released  from  punishment  by  forgive- 
ness, but  he  must  be  restored  to  the  image  of  God  by 
sanctifying  grace ;  that  so  he  may  be  fit  company  for 
the  rest  of  the  favourites  of  God  in  the  upper  world  ; 
that  he  may  be  qualified  to  be  admitted  into  this 
society,  where  perfect  purity  and  holiness  are  neces- 
sary for  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  upper  world,  and 
for  such  near  attendants  on  the  blessed  God :  In  that 
happy  state  nothing  shall  enter  there  that  defileth, 
Rev.  xxi.  27.  and  therefore  concerning  the  criminals 
amongst  the  Corinthians,  as  vile  and  as  offensive  to 
the  pure  and  holy  God  as  they  are  represented,  1 
Cor.  vi.  9, — 11.  viz.  * 'Fornicators,  idolaters,  adulter- 
ers, drunkards,  Sec.  but,  it  is  said,  they  are  washed, 


DISCOURSE  X.      OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.  409 

but  they  are  sanctified,  but  they  arc  justified  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  spirit  of  our 
God." 

Now  when  the  souls  of  the  saints  here  on  earth  are 
raised  to  such  divine  contemplations,  what  transport- 
ing satisfaction  and  delight  must  arise  from  the  sur- 
prising ^  union  and  harmony'  of  the  attributes  of  the 
blessed  God  in  these  his  transactions  ?  And  especi- 
ally  when  the  soul  in  the  lively  exercise  of  grace  and 
view  of  its  own  pardon,  justification,  and  restored  ho- 
liness, looks  upon  itself  as  one  of  these  happy  favour- 
ites of  the  majesty  of  heaven:  It  cries  out  as  it  were 
in  holy  amazement,  '  What  a  divine  profusion  is  here 
of  wisdom  and  power,  glory  and  grace,  to  save  a 
wretched  worm  from  everlasting  burnings,  and  to  ad- 
vance a  worthless  rebel  to  such  undeserved  and  ex- 
alted glories  ! 

SECTION  V. 

'  The  wonders  of  divine  perfections  united  in  the 
success  of  the  gospel,'  give  an  ecstasy  of  joy  some- 
times to  holy  souls.  Not  only  do  these  views  of  the 
united  perfections  of  God,  as  they  are  concerned  in 
the  contrivance  of  the  gospel,  entertain  the  saints 
above  with  new  and  pleasurable  contemplations,  but 
the  wonders  of  divine  wisdom,  power  and  grace,  unit- 
ed and  harmonizing  in  '  the  propagation  and  success 
of  this  gospel,'  become  a  matter  of  delightful  atten- 
tion and  survey  to  the  saints  on  high. 


410  THE  riRST  FRUITS  OF  THE    SPIRIT,      DISCOURSE   X, 

This  is  imitated  also  in  a  measure  by  the  children 
of  God  here  on  earth.  Have  you  never  felt  such  a, 
surprising  pleasure  in  the  view  of  the  attributes  of 
God,  his  grace,  wisdom,  and  power  in  making  these 
divine  designs  so  happily  efficacious  for  the  good  of 
thousands  of  souls?  If  there  **be  joy  in  heaven  among 
the  angels  of  God"  at  the  conversion  *'  of  a  sinner," 
what  perpetual  messages  of  unknow^n  satisfaction  and 
delight  did  the  daily  and  constant  labours  of  the  bless- 
ed Apostle  Paul  send  to  the  upper  world  ?  What  per- 
petual tidings  were  carried  to  the  worlds  on  high  of 
such  and  such  souls,  converted  unto  God  from  gross 
idolatry,  from  the  worship  of  dumb  idols,  from  the 
vain  superstition  of  their  heroes  and  mediator- gods, 
and  from  the  impure  and  bloody  sacrifices  of  their 
own  countrymen,  whereby  they  intended  to  satisfy 
their  gods  for  their  own  iniquities,  and  to  reconcile 
themselves  to  these  invented  gods,  these  demons  or 
devils  which  were  deified  by  the  folly  and  madness  of 
sinful  men  ?  What  new  hallelujahs  must  it  put  into 
the  mouths  of  the  saints  and  angels  on  high,  to  se^e 
the  true  and  living  God  worshipped  by  thousands 
that  had  never  before  known  him,  and  to  see  Jesus 
the  Mediator  in  all  the  glories  of  his  divine  offices  ad- 
mired and  adored  by  those  who  lately  had  either 
known  nothing  of  him,  or  been  shameful  revilers  and 
blasphemers  of  his  majesty. 

And  what  an  unknown  delight  is  diffused  through 
many  of  the  saints  of  God  now  here  on  earth  upon 
such  tidings,  not  only  from  the  foreign  and  heathen 
countries,  but  even  some  that  have  professed  Chris- 


DISCOURSE  X.       OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.  411 

tianity,  but  under  gross  mistakes  and  miserable  fogs 
of  darkness  and  superstition  ?  What  an  unconceiv- 
able and  overwhelming  pleasure  has  surprised  a 
Christian  sometimes  in  the  midst  of  his  zealous  wor- 
ship of  God  and  his  Saviour,  to  hear  of  such  tidings 
of  new  subjects  in  multitudes  submitting  themselves 
to  their  divine  dominion  > 

And  even  in  our  day,  whensoever  we  hear  of  the 
work  of  grace  begun  by  the  ministry  of  the  word 
awakening  a  drowsy  and  lethargic  soul  from  its  dan- 
gerous sleep  on  the  brink  of  hell,  rousing  a  negli- 
gent and  slothful  creature  from  his  indolence  and 
carelessness  about  the  things  of  eternity ;  or  again, 
in  making  a  heart  soft  and  impressive  to  the  powers 
of  divine  grace,  which  was  before  hard  as  the  nether 
millstone ;  and  especially  when  multitudes  of  these 
tidings  come  together  from  distant  places,  as  of  late 
we  have  heard  from  New  England,  and  several  of 
those  plantations,  from  Scotland,  and  several  of  her 
assemblies,  what  additional  scenes  of  heavenly  joy 
and  pleasure  have  been  raised  amongst  the  pious 
souls,  both  those  who  relate  and  those  who  hear 
them. 

SECTION  VI. 

Foretastes  of  heaven  are  sometimes  derived  from 
*  the  overflowing  sense  of  the  love  of  God'  let  in  up- 
on the  soul. 

The  spirits  above  who  are  surrounded  with  this 
blessedness  and  this  love,  and  rejoice  in  the  everlast^ 


412  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,       DISCOURSE    X, 

ing  assurance  of  it,  cannot  but  be  filled  with  intense 
joy.  What  can  be  a  greater  foundation  of  complete 
blessedness  and  delight  than  the  immediate  *  sensa- 
tion and  assurance  of  being  beloved  by  the  glorious, 
and  supreme,  and  the  all-sufficient  Being,  who  will 
never  suffer  his  favourites  to  want  any  thing  he  can 
bestow  upon  them  to  make  them  happy  in  perfection, 
and  for  ever  ?  All  creatures  are  under  his  present 
view  and  immediate  command  ;  there  is  not  the  least 
of  them  can  give  disturbance  to  any  of  the  favourites 
of  heaven,  who  dwell  in  the  midst  of  their  Creator's 
love ;  nor  is  there  any  creature  that  can  be  employ- 
ed towards  the  complete  happiness  of  the  saints  on 
high,  but  is  for  ever  under  the  disposal  of  that  God 
who  has  made  all  things,  and  it  shall  be  employed 
upon  every  just  occasion  for  the  display  of  his  love 
to  his  saints. 

Some  have  imagined,  that  that  *  perfect  satisfaction 
of  soul  which  arises  from  a  good  conscience,  speak- 
ing peace  inwardly  in  the  survey  of  its  sincere  de- 
sire to  please  God  in  all  things,  and  having  wiih  up- 
rightness of  heart  fulfilled  its  duty,-  is  the  supreme 
delight  of  heaven  :  but  it  is  my  opinion  God  has  ne- 
ver made  the  felicity  of  his  creatures  to  be  drawn  so 
entirely  out  of  themselves,  or  from  the  spring  of  their 
own  bosom,  as  this  notion  seems  to  imply.  God 
himself  will  be  all  hi  all  to  his  creatures  ;  and  all 
their  original  springs  of  blessedness  as  well  as  being 
are  in  him,  and  must  be  derived  from  him:  It  is 
therefore  the  overflowing  sense  of  being  beloved  by  a 
God  almighty  and  eternal,  that  is  the  supreme  foun- 


DISCOURSE  X.       OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.  41 3 

tain  of  joy  and  blessedness  in  every  reasonable  na- 
ture,  and  the  endless  security  of  this  happiness  is  joy 
everlasting  in  all  the  regions  of  the  blessed  above. 

Now  a  taste  of  this  kind  is  heavenly  blessedness 
even  on  this  earth,  where  God  is  pleased  to  bestow  it 
on  his  creatures ;  and  the  glimpses  of  it  bring  such 
ecstacies  into  the  soul  as  can  hardly  be  conceived,  or 
revealed  to  others,  but  it  is  best  felt  by  them  who  en- 
joy  it. 

SECTION  Vil. 

<  Foretastes  of  heaven  in  the  fervent  emotions  of 
soul  in  love  to  Jesus  Christ.' 

What  the  love  and  strong  aifections  of  the  blessed 
saints  above  towards  Jesus  Christ  their  Lord  and  Savi- 
our may  impress  of  joy  on  their  spirits,  is  not  possible 
for  us  to  learn  in  the  present  state;  but  there  are  some 
who  have  even  here  on  earth  felt  such  transcendent 
affections  to  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  even  though  they 
have  never  enjoyed  the  sight  of  him,  yet  they  love 
him  with  most  intense  and  ardent  zeal;  their  devo- 
tion almost  swallows  them  up  and  carries  them  away 
captive  above  all  earthly  things,  and  brings  them 
near  to  the  heavenly  world.  There  is  an  unknown 
joy  which  arises  from  such  intense  love  to  an  object 
so  lovely  and  so  deserving;  such  is  that  which  is 
spoken  concerning  the  saints  to  whom  St.  Peter 
wrote,  1  Pet.  i.  8.  '*  Whom  having  not  seen,  ye  love, 
in  whom  though  now  ye  see  him  not,  yet  believing 
ye  rejoice  v/ith  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.'* 

G  3 


414  TH.Ii^  FJftS.I'i^ft'^JlTS  01   THE  SPIRIT,      DISCOURSE  X. 

Il  is  through  thig^  divine  taste  of  Iqv^,  and  joy,  and 
glory  communicated,  by  thq  blessed  Spirit,  revealing 
the  things  of  Christ  to  their  souls,  that  many  of  the 
confessors  and  .martyrs  in  the  primitive  ages,  and  in 
latter,  tijnes,  have  not  only  joyfully  p?i.rted  wjth  all  their 
pQS^ssions  ^nd  their  comforts  ii);  this,  life,  but  have 
follQvyeii  the  call  of  Qod  through  prisp^sand  deaths 
of  a.  most,  dreadful  kind ;  through  racks,  and  fires, 
and  many  torments  for  the  sake  of  the  love  of  Jesus: 
And  perhaps  there  may  be  some  in  our  day  who  have 
had  so  lively  and  strong  a  sensation  of  the  love  of 
Christ  let  in  upon  their  souls,  that  they  could  not 
only.bje  content  to  be  absent  from  ail  their  carnal  de- 
lights for  ever,  but  even  from  their  intellectual  and 
more  spiritual  entertainments,  if  tlicy  might  be  for 
ever  placed  ia  such  a  situation  to  Jesus  Christ,  as  to 
feel  the  everlasting  beams  of  his  love  let  out  upon 
them,  and  to  rejoice  in  him  with  perpetual  delight. 
As  he  is  the  nearest  image  of  God  the  Father,  they 
can  love  nothing  beneath  God  equal  to  their  love  of 
him,  nor  delight  in  any  thing  beneath  God  equal  to 
their  dehght  in  Jesus  Christ:  Indeed  their  love  and 
their  joy  are  so  wrapped  up  in  the  great  and  blessed 
God  as  he  appears  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  they  do  not 
usually  divide  their  affections  in  this  matter,  but  love 
God  supremely  for  ever,  as  revealing  himself  in  his 
most  perfect  love  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  their  souls. 
How  near  this  may  approach  to  the  glorified  love  of 
the  saints  in  heaven,  or  what  difference  there  is  be- 
tween the  holy  ones  above  and  the  saints  below  in 
this  respect,  may  be  hard  to  3i\y, 


DISCOURSK  X.       OR  THE  FORF.TASTE  OF  HF.AVE!^.  41 S 


SECTION  VIII. 

'  Foretastes  of  heaven  in  the  transcendent  love  61 
the  saints  to  each  other.'  I  might  here  ask  some  hd- 
vanced  saints, 

Have  you  never  seen  or  heard  of  a  fellow  Chris- 
tian growing  into  such  a  near  resemblance  to  the 
blessed  Jesus,  in  all  the  virtues  and  graces  of  the  spi- 
rit, that  you  would  willingly  part  whh  all  the  attain- 
ments and  honours  that  you  have  already  arrived  at, 
which  make  you  never  so  eminent  in  the  world  or  the 
church,  as  to  be  made  so  near  a  conformist  to  the 
image  of  the  blessed  Jesus  as  this  fellow  Christian 
has  seemed  to  be  ? 

Have  you  never  seen  or  read  of  the  glories  and 
graces  of  the  Son  of  God  exemplified  in  some  of  the 
saints  in  so  high  a  degree,  and  at  the  same  time  been 
so  divested  of  self,  and  so  mortified  to  a  narrow  self- 
love,  as  to  be  satisfied  with  the  lowest  and  the  meanest 
supports  of  life,  and  the  meanest  station  in  the  church 
of  Christ  here  on  earth,  if  you  might  but  be  favour- 
ed to  partake  of  that  transcendent  likeness  to  the 
holy  Jesus,  as  you  would  fain  imitate  and  possess. 

Have  you  never  had  a  view  of  all  the  virtues  and 
graces  of  the  saints,  derived  from  one  eternal  foun- 
tain, the  blessed  God,  and  flowing  through  the  medi- 
ation of  Jesus  his  Son,  in  so  glorious  a  manner,  that 
vou  have  longed  for  the  day  when  you  shall  be  amongst 
them,  and  receive  your  share  of  this  blessedness  ? 
Have  you  never  found  yourself  so  united  to  them  in 


416      THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,  &C.    DISCOURSE    X. 

one  heart  and  one  soul,  that  you  have  wished  them 
all  the  same  blessings  that  you  wished  to  yourself, 
and  that  without  the  least  shadow  of  grudging  or 
envy,  if  every  one  of  them  were  partaker  as  much  as 
you?  There  is  no  eni^y  among  the  heavenly  inhabit- 
ants; nor  doth  St.  Paul  receive  the  less  because  Ce- 
phas or  Apollos  has  a  large  share.  Every  vessel  has 
its  capacity  enlarged  to  a  proper  extent  by  the  God 
of  nature  and  grace,  and  every  vessel  is  completely 
filled,  and  feels  itself  for  ever  full  and  for  ever  happy : 
Then  there  cannot  be  found  the  shadow  of  envy 
amongst  them. 

Now,  to  sum  up  the  view  of  these  things  in  short; 
who  is  there  that  enjoys  these  blessed  evidences  of  an 
interest  in  the  inheritance  on  high,  who  is  there  that 
has  any  such  foretastes  of  the  felicity  above,  but 
must  join  with  the  whole  creation  in  groaning  for  that 
great  day,  when  all  the  children  of  God  shall  appear 
in  the  splendor  of  their  adoption,  and  every  thing  in 
nature  and  grace  among  them  shall  attain  the  proper 
end  for  which  it  was  at  first  designed  ?  And  whenso- 
ever any  such  Christian  hears  some  of  the  last  words 
in  the  Bible  pronounced  by  our  Lord  Jesus,  **  Surely 
I  come  quickly,"  he  must  immediately  join  the  uni- 
versal echo  of  the  saints  with  unspeakable  delight, 
^'even  so  come,  O  Lord  Jesus." 


DISCOURSE  XI. 
SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 


AND 


JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION 


Job.  xiv.  13,  14,  15. 

0  that  thou  luouldst  hide  me  in  the  gra'ue^  that  thou 
nvouldst  keep  me  in  secret  until  thy  wrath  be  past, 
that  thou  wouldst  appoint  me  a  set  time  arid  remem- 

(  her  me  !  If  a  man  die  shall  he  live  again  ?  All  the 
days  of  my  appointed  time  %vill  Iwait  till  my  change 
come.  Thou  shalt  call  and  I  will  answer  thee:  Thou 
wilt  have  a  desire  to  the  work  of  thy  hands. 

BEFORE  we  attempt  to  make  any  improvement 
of  these  words  of  Job  for  our  present  edification,  it 
is  necessary  that  we  search  out  the  true  meaning  of 
them.  There  are  two  general  senses  of  these  three 
verses,  which  are  given  by  some  of  the  most  consi- 
derable interpreters  of  Scripture,  and  they  are  ex- 
ceeding different  from  each  other. 

The^r^r  is  this.  Some  suppose  Job  under  the  ex- 
tremity of  his  anguish  to  long  after  death  here,  as  he 


416  SAFETT  IN  THE  GRAVE,  DISCOURSE  2^1. 

does  in  some  other  parts  of  this  book,  and  to  desire 
that  God  would  cut  him  oft'  from  the  land  of  the  liv- 
ing, and  **  hide  him  in  the  grave,"  or,  at  least,  take 
him  away  from  the  present  stage  of  action,  and  con- 
ceal him  in  some  retired  and  solitary  place,  dark  as 
the  grave  is,  till  all  the  days  which  might  be  design- 
ed for  his  pain  and  sorrow  were  finished  :  And  that 
God  would  '*  appohit  him  a  time'*  for  his  restoration 
to  health  and  happiness  again  in  this  world,  and  raise 
him  to  the  possession  of  it,  by  calling  him  out  of 
that  dark  and  solitary  place  of  retreat;  and  then  Job 
would  answer  him,  and  appear  with  pleasure  at  such 
a  call  of  Providence. 

Others  give  this  sense  of  the  words,  that  though 
the  pressing  and  overwhelming  sorrows  of  this  good 
man  constrained  him  to  long  for  death,  and  he  en- 
treated of  God  that  he  might  be  sent  to  the  *'  grave 
as  a  hiding-place,''  and  thus  be  delivered  from  his 
present  calamities,  yet  he  had  some  divine  glimpse 
of  a  resurrection  or  livhjg  again^  and  he  hopes  for  the 
happiness  of  a  future  state  when  God  shofild  call  him 
out  of  the  grave.  He  knew  that  the  blessed  God 
would  have  *  a  cksire  to'  restore  *  the  work  of  his 
own  hands'  to  life  again,  and  Job  would  *  answer  the 
call'  of  his  God  into  a  resurrection  with  holy  plea- 
sure  and  joy. 

Now  there  are  four  or  five  reasons  which  incline  me 
ro  prefer  this  latter  sense  of  the  words,  and  to  shew 
that  the  comforts  and  hope  which  Job  aspires  to  in 
this  place,  are  only  to  be  derived  from  a  resurrection 
to  final  happiness. 


DISCOURSE  X[.       AND  JOY  AT  THE  RF.SURRECTION.  4i9 

1.  The  express  words  of  the  text  are,  <'0  th^t 
thou  wouldst  hide  me  in  the  grave  !"  Not  in  a  dark- 
some place  hke  the  grave;  and  where  the  literal  sense 
of  the  words  is  plain  and  agreeable  to  the  context, 
there  is  no  need  of  making  metaphors  to  explain  them, 
There  is  nothing  that  can  encourage  us  to  suppose  that 
Job  had  any  hope  of  happiness  in  this  world  again, 
after  he  was  gone  down  to  the  grave,  and  therefore 
he  would  not  make  so  unreasonable  a  petition  to  the 
great  God.  This  seems  to  be  too  foolish  and  too  hope, 
less  a  request  for  us  to  put  into  the  mouth  of  so  wise 
and  good  a  man* 

2.  He  seems  to  limit  the  continuance  of  man  in 
the  state  of  death  to  the  duration  of  the  heavens,  ver. 
12th,  *'  man  lieth  down  and  riseth  pot  till  the  heavens 
be  no  more:"  Not  absolutely yc?r  ever  does  Job  desire 
to  be  hidden  in  the  grave,  but  till  the  dissolution  of 
all  these  visible  things,  these  heavens  and  this  earth, 
and  the  great  rising-day  for  the  sons  of  men.  These 
words  seem  to  have  a  plain  aspect  towards  the  resur- 
rection. 

And  especially  when  he  adds,  *^  they  shall  not  be 
wakened  nor  raised  out  of  their  sleep."  The  brutes 
when  dying  are  never  said  to  sleep  in  Scripture,  be- 
cause they  shall  never  rise;  again ;  but  this  is  a  fre- 
quent word  used  to  signify  the  death  of  man  both  in 
the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  New,  because  he  only 
lies  down  in  die  grave  for  a  sci-ason,  as  in  a  bed  of 
sleep,  in  order  to  awake  and  ari.se  hereafuCr. 

3.  In  other  places  of  this  book,  Job  gives  us  some 
evident  hints  of  his  hope  of  a  resurrection,  especially 


420  SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE,  J)ISCOURSE  XI, 

that  divine  passage  and  prophecy,  when  he  spake  as 
one  surrounded  with  a  vision  of  glory,  and  filled  with 
the  light  and  joy  of  faith.  Job  xix.  25.  "  I  know 
that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he  shall  stand  at 
the  latter  day  upon  the  earth  :  And  though  after  my 
skin  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall 
I  see  God;  whom  I  shall  see  for  myself,  and  mine 
eyes  shall  behold,  and  not  another,  though  my  reins 
be  consumed  within  me."  But  in  many  parts  of  this 
book  the  good  man  lets  us  know,  that  he  had  no 
manner  of  hope  of  any  restoration  to  health  and  peace 
in  this  life.  Job  vii.  6,  7,  8.  "My  days  are  spent 
without  hope:  Mine  eye  shall  no  more  see  good: 
The  eye  of  him  that  hath  seen  me  shall  see  me  no 
more:  Thine  eyes  are  upon  me,  and  I  am  not." 
Ver.  21.  "  Now  shall  I  sleep  in  the  dust,  thou  shalt 
seek  me  in  the  morning  and  I  shall  not  be."  Job  xvii. 
15.  "  Where  is  now  my  hope  ?  As  for  my  hope,  who 
shall  see  it  ?"  He  and  his  hope  seemed  "  to  go  down 
to  the  bars  of  the  pit  together,  and  to  rest  in  the 
dust."  And  if  Job  had  no  hope  of  a  restoration  in 
this  world,  then  his  hopes  must  point  to  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead. 

4.  If  we  turn  these  verses  here,  as  well  as  that  no- 
ble passage  in  Job  xix.  to  the  more  evangelical  sense 
of  a  resurrection,  the  truths  which  are  contained  in 
the  one  and  the  other,  are  all  supported  by  the  lan- 
guage of  the  New  Testament :  And  the  express  words 
of  both  these  texts  are  much  more  naturally  and 
easily  applied  to  the  evangelical  sense,  without  any 
strain  and  difRcultv. 


DISCOURSE  XI.       AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  421 

The  expressions  in  the  xixth  of  Job,  *'  I  know 
that  my  Redeemer  liveth,"  &:c.  have  been  rescued 
by  many  wise  interpreters  from  that  poor  and  low 
sense  which  has  been  forced  upon  them,  by  those 
who  will  not  allow  Job  to  have  any  prospect  beyond 
this  life :  iVnd  it  has  been  made  to  appear  to  be  a 
bright  glimpse  of  divine  light  and  joy,  a  ray  or  vision 
of  the  sun  of  righteousness  breaking  in  between  the 
dark  clouds  of  his  pressing  sorrow:  And  that  the 
words  of  my  text  demand  the  same  sort  of  interpreta- 
tion, will  appear  further  by  these  short  remarks,  and 
this  paraphrase  upon  them. 

Job  had  been  speaking,  ver.  7.  &c.  that  **  there  is 
hope  of  a  tree  when  it  is  cut  down  that  it  will  sprout 
again"  visibly,  and  bring  forth  boughs;  but  when 
*'  man  gives  up  the  ghost"  he  is  no  more  visible  up- 
on earth:  ''Where  is  he?"  Job  does  not  deny  his 
future  existence,  but  only  intimates  that  he  does  not 
appear  in  the  place  where  he  was ;  and  in  the  follow- 
ing verses  he  does  not  say,  a  dying  man  shall  never 
rise,  or  shall  '  never  be  awakened  out  of  his  sleep,' 
but  asserts  that  ''  he  rises  not  till"  the  dissolution  of 
"  these  heavens"  and  these  visible  things:  And  by 
calling  death  a  sleep,  he  supposes  an  awaking  time, 
though  it  may  be  distant  and  far  off. 

Then  he  proceeds  to  long  for  death,  '*  O  that  thou 
wouldst  hide  me  in  the  grave  !  That  thou  wouldst 
keep  me  secret  till  thy  wrath  be  past!"  Till  these 
times  and  seasons  of  sorrow  be  ended,  which  seem 
to  be  the  effect  of  divine  wrath  or  anger :  But  then 
I  entreat  *'  thou  wotildst  appoint  me  a  set  tim<""  for 

II   3 


422 


S  A  F  ET Y   I N  T II K  C  R  A  \  i  , 


j:)iscourse  xi. 


my  tarning  in  the  grave,  ''and  reniember  me"  in 
order  to  raise  me  agaiti.  Then  with  a  sort  of  sur- 
prise of  faith  and  pleasure  he  adds,  *'if  a  man  die 
shall  he  Hve  again?  Shall  these  dry  bones  live?"  And 
he  answers  in  the  language  of  hope:  '*  All  the  days  of 
that  appointed  time"  of  tliine  *'I  will  wait  till  that 
glorious  change  shall  come.  Thou  shalt  call"  from 
heaven,  *'and  I  will  answer  thee"  from  the  dust  of 
death.  I  will  appear  at  thy  call  and  say,  *'  Here  am 
I :  Thou  wilt  have  a  desire  to  the  work  of  thy  hands," 
to  raise  me  again  from  the  dead,  whom  thou  hast 
made  of  clay,  and  fashioned  me  into  life. 

From  the  words  thus  expounded,  we  may  draw 
these  several  observations^  and  make  a  short  reflec- 
tion upon  each  of  them,  as  we  pass  along. 

Obs,  I.  This  w^orld  is  a  place  wherein  good  men 
are  exposed  to  great  calamities,  and  they  are  ready  to 
think  the  anger  or  wrath  of  God:;tippears  in  them. 

Obs,  II.  The  grave  is  God's  known  hiding-place 
for  his  people. 

Obs,  III.  God  has  appointed  a  set  time  in  his  own 
counsels  for  all  his  children  to  continue  in  death. 

Obs.  IV.  The  lively  view  of  a  happy  resurrection, 
and  a  well-grountied  hope  of  this  blessed  change,  is 
a  solid  and  divine  comfort  to  the  saints  of  God,  under 
all  trials  of  every  kind  both  in  life  and  death. 

Obs,  V.  The  saints  of  God  who  are  resting  in  their 
beds  of  dust,  will  arise  joyfully  at  the  call  of  their 
heavenly  Father. 


DISCOURSE  XI.       AND  JOY   AT  THE   RESURRrXT  lON.  AZi 

Obs.  VI.  God  takes  delight  in  his  works  of  nature, 
but  much  more  when  they  are  dignified  and  Luiorncd 
by  the  operations  of  divine  grace. 

Obs.  VII.  IIow  much  are  we  indebted  to  God  for 
the  revelation  of  the  New  Testament,  which  teaches 
us  to  ftnd  out  the  blessings  which  are  contained  in 
the  Old,  and  to  fetch  out  the  glories  and  treasures 
\vhich  are  concealed  thc:c  ? 

Let  us  dwell  awhile  upon  each  of  these,  and  endea- 
vour to  improve  them  by  a  particular  application. 

Obs,  I.  *  This  world  is  a  place  wherein  good  mea 
are  exposed  to  great  calamities,  and  they  are  ready 
to  think  the  anger  or  wrath  of  God  appears  in  them.' 
This  mortal  life  and  this  present  state  of  things,  are 
surrounded  with  crosses  and  disappointments;  the 
loss  of  our  dearest  friends,  as  well  a*  our  own  pains 
and  sicknesses,  have  so  much  anguish  and  misery  at- 
tending them,  that  they  seem  to  be  the  seasons  of 
divine  wrath,  and  they  grieve  and  pain  the  spirit  of 
many  a  pious  man,  under  a  sense  of  the  anger  of  his 
God.  It  must  be  confessed  in  general  that  misery  is 
the  effect  of  sin,  for  sin  and  sorrow  came  into  the 
world  together.  It  is  granted  also,  that  God  some- 
times afflicts  his  people  **  in  anger,  and  corrects  them 
in  his  hot  displeasure,'*  when  they  have  sinned 
against  him  in  a  remarkable  manner:  But  this  is  not 
always  the  case. 

The  great  God  was  not  really  angry  with  Job  when 
be  suffered  him  to  fall  into  such  complicated  dis- 
tresses ;  for  it  is  plain,  that  while  he  delivered  him  up 
into  the  hands  of  Satan  to  be  afflicted,  he  vindicates 


424  SAFETY  IN  THE    GRAVE,  DISCOURSE  XI. 

and  honours  him  with  a  divine  testimony  concerning 
his  piety.     Job  i.  8.  *'  There  is  none  like  him  in  the 
earth,  a  perfect  and  an  upright  man,  one  that  feareth 
God  and  avoideth  evil."     Nor   was  he  angry  with 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  when  it  **  pleased  the  Father  to 
bruise  him  and  put  him  to  grief,"  when  he   *'  made 
his  soul  an  offering  for  sin,"  and  he  was  *'  stricken, 
smitten  of  God  and  afflicted,"  Isai.  liii.  To  these  we 
may  add  Paul  the  best  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  great- 
est of  Christians,   who  was  abundant  in  labours  and 
sufferings  beyond  all  the  rest.     See  a  dismal   cata- 
logue of  his  calamities,  2  Cor.  xi.  23,    &:c.     What 
variety  of  wretchedness,  what  terrible  persecutions 
from  men,  what  repeated  strokes  of  distress  came  up- 
on him  by  the  providence  of  God,    which  appeared 
like  the  effects  of  divine   wrath  or  anger  P  But  they 
were   plainly  designed  for  more  divine  and  blessed 
purposes,  both  with  regard  to  God,  with  regard  to 
himself,  and  to  all  the  succeeding  ages  of  the  Chris- 
tian church. 

God  does  not  always  smite  his  own  people  to  pun- 
ish sin  and  shew  his  anger ;  but  these  sufferings  are 
often  appointed  for  the  '  trial  of  their  Christian  vir. 
tues  and  graces,'  for  the  exercise  of  their  humility 
and  their  patience,  for  the  proof  of  their  steadfastness 
in  religion,  for  the  honour  of  the  grace  of  God  in 
them,  and  for  the  increase  of  their  own  future  weight 
of  glory.  *'  Blessed  is  the  man  that  endures  tempta- 
tion, for  when  he  is  tried,  he  shall  receive  the  crown 
of  life  which  the  Lord  hath  promised  to  them  that 
love  him,"  Jam.  i.  12.  *'The  devil  shall  cast  some 


DISCOURSE  XI.       AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  425 

of  you  into  prison,  that  you  may  be  tried,  and  ye 
shall  have  tribulation  ten  days  :  Be  thou  faithful  unto 
death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life,"  Rev.  ii. 
10.  *'  Our  light  afflictions  which  are  but  for  a  mo- 
ment, are  working  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory,"  2  Cor.  iv.  17. 

However,  upon  the  whole,  this  world  is  a  verv 
troublesome  and  painful  place  to  the  children  of 
God  ;  They  are  subject  here  to  many  weaknesses 
and  sins,  temptations  and  follies;  they  are  in  dan- 
ger  of  new  defilemen*<s;  they  go  through  many 
threatening  perils  and  many  real  sorrows,  which 
cither  are  the  effects  of  the  displeasure  of  God,  or,  at 
least,  carry  an  appearance  of  divine  anger  in  them  : 
But  there  is  a  time  when  these  shall  be  finished,  and 
sorrow  shall  have  its  last  period:  There  is  a  time 
when  these  calamities  *'  will  be  overpast,"  and  shall 
return  no  more  for  ever. 

Reflection,  Why  then,  O  my  soul,  why  shouldst 
thou  be  so  fond  of  dwelling  in  this  present  world  >. 
Why  shouldst  thou  be  desirous  of  a  long  continuance 
in  it?  Hast  thou  never  found  sorrows  and  afflictions 
enough  among  the  scenes  of  life,  to  make  thee  weary 
of  them  ?  And  when  sorrow  and  sin  have  joined  to- 
gether, have  they  not  grievously  embittered  this  life 
unto  thee  ?  Wilt  thou  never  be  weaned  from  these 
sensible  scenes  of  flesh  and  blood  ?  Hast  thou  such 
a  love  to  the  darknesses,  the  defilements,  and  the 
uneasinesses  which  are  found  in  such  a  prison  as  this 
is,  as  to  make  thee  unwilling  to  depart  when  God 
shall  call  ?  Hast  thou  dwelt  so  long  in  this  tabernacle 


426  SATETY   IN  THE  GRAVE,  DISCOURSE  XI. 

of  clay,  and  doest  thou  not  '^  groan,  being  burden- 
ed ?"  Hast  thou  no  desire  to  a  release  into  that  upper 
and  better  world,  where  sorrows,  sins  and  tempta- 
tions have  no  place,  and  where  there  shall  never  be 
the  least  appearance  or  suspicion  of  the  displeasure  of 
thy  God  towards  thee  ? 

Obs.  II.  '  The  grave  is  God's  known  hiding-place 
for  his  people  :'  It  is  his  appointed  shelter  and  re- 
treat for  his  favourites,  when  he  finds  them  overpress- 
ed  either  with  present  dangers  or  calamities,  or  when 
he  foresees  huge  calamities-And  dangers,  like  storms 
and  billows,  ready  to  overtake  them,  Isa.  Ivii.  1. 
**  The  righteous  is  taken  away  from  the  evil  to  come." 
God  our  heavenly  Father  beholds  this  evil  advancing 
forward  through  all  the  present  smiles  of  nature,  and 
all  the  peaceful  circumstances  that  surround  us.  He 
hides  his  children  in  the  grave  from  a  thousand  sins, 
and  sorrows,  and  distresses  of  this  life,  which  they 
foresaw  not:  And  even  when  they  are  actually  beset 
behind  and  before,  so  that  there  seems  to  be  no  natu- 
ral  way  for  their  escape,  God  calls  them  aside  into  the 
chambers  of  death,  in  the  same  sort  of  language  as  he 
uses  in  another  case,  Isa.  xxvi.  20.  *' Come  my 
people,  enter  thou  into  thy  chambers,  and  shut  thy 
doors  about  thee,  hid(^  thyself  as  it  were  for  a  little 
moment  till  the  indignation  be  overpassed.'* 

And  yet  perhaps  it  is  possible,  that  this  very  lan- 
guage of  the  Lord  in  Isaiah  may  refer  to  the  grave, 
as  God's  hiding-place,  for  the  verse  before  promises 
a  resurrection.  **  Thy  dead  men  shall  live  ;  together 
with  my  dead  body  shall  they  arise  :  Awake  and  sing 


DISCOURSE    XI.       ANT)  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  427 

ye  that  dwell  in  the  dust,  for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of 
herbs,  and  the  earth  shall  cast  out  the  dead/'  And 
if  we  may  suppose  this  last  verse  to  have  been  trans- 
posed by  any  ancient  transcribers,  so  as  to  have  fol- 
lowed  originally  verse  20,  or-21,  it  is  very  natural  then 
to  interpret  the  whole  paragraph  concerning  death,  as 
God's  hiding-place  for  his  people,  and  their  rising 
again  through  the  virtue  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ 
as  their  joyful  release. 

Many  a  time  God  is  pleased  to  shorten  the  labours, 
and  travels  and  fXtigues  of  good  men  in  this  wilder- 
ness, and  he  opens  a  door  of  rest  to  them  where  he 
pleases,  and  perhaps  surprises  them  into  a  state  of 
safety  and  peace,  '*  where  the  weary  are  at  rest,  and 
tlie  wicked  cease  from  troubling;"  and  holy  Job 
seems  to  desire  this  favour  from  his  Maker  here. 

Sometimes  indeed,  in  the  history  of  this  book,  he 
seems  to  break  out  into  these  desires  in  too  rude  and 
angry  a  manner  of  expression  ;  and  in  a  fit  of  crimi- 
nal impatience  he  murmurs  against  God  for  uphold- 
ing him  in  the  land  of  the  living:  But  at  other  times, 
as  in  this  text,  he  represents  his  desires  with  more 
decency  and  submission.  Every  desire  to  die  is  not 
to  be  confitrued  sinful  and  criminal.  Nature  may  ask 
of  God  a  relief  from  its  agonies  and  a  period  to  its 
sorrows;  nor  does  grace  utterly  forbid  it,  if  there  be 
also  an  humble  submission  and  resignation  to  the  will 
of  God,  such  as  we  rinQ  exemplified  by  our  blessed 
Saviour,  '*  Father,  if  it  be  thy  will  let  this  cup  pass 
from  me;  yet  not  as  I,  will  but  as  thou  wilt.'' 


428  SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE,  DISCOURSE  XI. 

On  this  second  observation^  I  desire  to  make  these 
three  reflections. 

Reflect.  1.  Though  a  good  man  knows  that  death 
was  originally  appointed  as  a  curse  for  sin,  yet  his 
faith  can  trust  God  to  turn  that  curse  into  a  blessing: 
He  can  humbly  ask  his  Maker  to  release  him  from 
the  painful  bonds  of  life,  to  hasten  the  slow  ap- 
proaches of  death,  and  to  hide  him  in  the  grave  fron\ 
some  overwhelming  sorrows.  This  is  the  glory  of 
God  in  his  covenant  of  grace  with  the  children  of 
men,  that  he  ** turns  curses  into  blessings,"  Deut. 
xxiii.  5.  And  the  grave,  which  was  designed  as  a  prison 
for  sinners,  is  become  a  place  of  shelter  to  the  saints, 
where  they  are  hidden  and  secured  from  rising  sor- 
rows and  calamities.  It  is  God's  known  hiding- 
place  for  his  own  children  from  the  envy  and  the 
rage  of  men;  from  all  the  known  and  unknown  ago- 
nies of  nature,  the  diseases  of  the  flesh,  and  the  dis- 
tresses of  human  life,  which  perhaps  might  be  over- 
bearing and  intolerable. 

Why,  O  my  fearful  soul,  why  shouldst  thou  be 
afraid  of  dying?  Why  shouldst  thou  be  frighted  at 
the  dark  shadows  of  the  grave,  when  thou  art  weary 
with  the  toils  and  crosses  of  the  day?  Hast  thou  not 
often  desired  the  shadow  of  the  evening,  and  longed 
for  the  bed  of  natural  sleep,  where  thy  fatigues  and 
thy  sorrows  may  be  forgotten  for  a  season?  And  is 
not  the  grave  itself  a  sweet  sleeping-place  for  the 
saints,  wherein  they  lie  down  and  forget  their  dis- 
tresses, and  feel  none  of  the  miseries  of  human  life, 
and  especially  since  it  is  softened  and  sanctified  by 


TtlSCOimSE  XI.      AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESUPvl-lECTION.  429 

the  Son  of  God  lying  clown  there?  Why  shouldst  thou 
be  afraid  to  lay  thy  head  in  the  dust  ?  It  is  but  en- 
tering into  '  God's  hiding-place,'  into  his  chambers 
of  rest  and  repose  :  It  is  but  committing  thy  ftesh,  the 
meaner  part  of  thy  composition,  to  his  care  in  the 
dark  for  a  short  season  :  He  will  hide  thee  there,  and 
keep  thee  in  safety  from  the  dreadful  trials  which  per- 
haps would  overwhelm  thy  spirit.  Sometimes  in  the 
course  of  his  providence  he  may  find  it  necessary 
that  some  spreading  calamity  should  overtake  the 
place  where  thou  dwellest,  or  some  distressing  stroke 
fall  upon  thy  family,  or  thy  friends,  but  he  will  hide 
thee  under  ground  before  it  comes,  and  thus  disap- 
point all  thy  fears,  and  lay  every  perplexing  thought 
into  rest  and  silence. 

Reflect,  2.  Let  it  be  ever  remembered,  that  the 
grave  is  God's  hiding-place  and  not  our  own  :  We 
are  to  venture  into  it  without  terror  when  he  calls  us; 
but  he  does  not  suffer  us  to  break  into  it  our  own 
way  without  his  call.  Death  and  life  are  in  the  hands 
of  God,  and  he  never  gave  the  keys  of  them  to  mor- 
tal men,  to  let  themselves  out  of  this  world  when 
they  please,  nor  to  enter  his  hiding-place  without  his 
leave. 

Bear  up  then,  O  my  soul,  under  all  the  sorrows 
and  trials  of  this  present  state,  till  God  himself  shall 
say.  It  is  finished  ;  till  our  blessed  Jesus,  who  has  the 
keys  put  into  his  hands,  shall  open  the  door  of  death, 
and  give  tliee  an  entrance  into  that  dark  and  peaceful 
retreat.  It  is  a  safe  and  silent  refuge  from  the  hustle 
?.vA  the  noise^  the  labours  and  the  troubles  of  life  ; 

I  3 


4oO  SArETY  IN   THE    GllAVL,  DISCOURSE  XI, 

blithe  that  forces  it  open  with  his  own  hands,  how 
^vill  he  dare  to  appear  before  God  in  the  world  of 
spirits?  What  will  he  answer,  when  with  a  dreadful 
frown  the  great  God  sliall  demand  of  h.im,  *>  friend, 
how  comest  thou  in  hither  :"  Wlio  sent  for  thee,  or 
gave  thee  leave  to  come  ?  Such  a  wretch  must  ven- 
ture upon  so  rash  an  action  at  the  peril  of  the  wrath 
of  God,  and  his  own  eternal  destruction. 

Our  blessed  Jesus,  who  has  all  the  vast  scheme  of 
divine  counsels  before  his  eyes,  by  having  the  books 
of  his  Father's  degrees  put  into  his  hands,  he  knows 
how  long  it  is  proper  for  thee,  O  Christian,  to  fight 
and  labour,  to  wrestle  and  strive  with  sins,  tempta- 
tions and  diiiiculiies  in  the  present  life:  He  knows 
best  in  what  moment  to  put  a  peiiod  to  them,  and 
pronoiUK^e  thee  concjucror.  Fly  not  from  the  field 
of  battle  for  want  of  holy  fortitude,  though  thy  ene- 
i"nies  and  thy  dangers  be  never  so  many,  nor  dare  to 
dismiss  thyself  from  thy  appointed  post,  till  the 
Lord  of  life,  pronounce  the  word  of  thy  dismission. 

Sometimes  I  have  been  ready  to  say  uilhin  my- 
self, why  is  my  life  prolonged  in  sorrow  f  Why  are 
my  days  lengthened  out  to  see  further  wretchedness  : 
Methinks  the  ''  grave  should  be  ready  for  me,  and 
the  house  appointed  fur  all  the  living."  What  can  I 
do  further  lor  God  or  for  man  here  on  earth,  since 
my  nature  j)ines  away  with  painful  sickness,  my 
nerves  are  unstrung,  my  spirits  dissipated,  and  my 
best  powers  of  acting  are  enfeebled  and  almost  lost  r 
Peace,  peace,  O  thou  complaining  spirit !  Dost  thou 
know  the  counsels  of  the  Almighty,   and  ihe  secrc: 


UI  SCOURS!-.  XI.       AND  JOY  A  I'  THE   liKSUKK  F  C  T  l(j>J.  4^,1 

designs  of  tliy  God  and  thy  Saviour?  lie  has  nv.my 
deep  and  unknown  pnrpDses  in  continuing  his  chil- 
dren amidst  heavy  sorrows,  which  ihey  can  never 
penetrate  or  learn  in  this  world.  Silence  and  sub- 
mission becomes  thee  at  all  times.  *'  Father,  not 
my  will  but  thy  will  be  done." 

And  let  it  be  hinted  to  thee,  O  my  soul,  that  it  is 
much  more  honourable  to  be  weary  of  tins  life,  be- 
cause of  the  sins  and  temptations  of  it,  than  because 
of  the  toils  and  sorrows  that  attend  it.  If  we  must 
"  groan  in  this  tabernacle  being  burdened,"  let  the 
snares,  and  the  dangers,  and  the  defilements  of  it  be 
the  chief  springs  of  thy  groaning  and  the  warmest 
motives  to  request  a  release.  God  loves  to  see  his 
people  more  afraid  'iv!r'sin  than  of  sorrow.  If  thy  cor- 
ruptions are  so  strong,  and  the  temptations  of  life  so 
unhappily  surround  thee,  that  thou  art  daily  crying 
out,  "  who  shall  deliver  thee  from  the  body  of  sin 
and  death,"  then  thou  mayest  more  honourably  send 
up  a  wish  to  heaven,  '*  O  that  I  had  the  wings  of  a 
dove,  that  I  might  fly  away  and  be  at  rest !  O  that 
God  would  hide  me  in  the  grave"  from  my  prevailing 
iniquities,  and  from  the  ruffling  and  disquieting  influ- 
ence of  my  own  follies  and  my  daily  temptations ! 
But  never  be  thou  quite  weary  of  doing  or  suficring 
the  will  of  thy  heavenly  Father,  though  he  should 
continue  thee  in  this  mortal  life  a  length  of  years  !)e- 
yond  thy  desires,  and  should  witlihold  thee  from  his 
secret  place  of  retreat  and  rest. 

A  constant  and  joyful  readiness  at  the  c;ill  of  God 
to  depart  hence,  with  a  ^;heerful  patienr-e  to  ^;<;ntinue 


432  SAIETY  IN  THE  GRAVE,  DISCOURSE  XI* 

here  during  his  pleasure,  is  the  most  perfect  and 
blessed  temper  that  a  Christian  can  arrive  at :  It 
gives  God  the  highest  glory,  and  keeps  the  soul  in 
the  sweetest  peace. 

Reflect.  3.  This  one  thought,  that  the  *  grave  is 
God's  hiding-place,'  should  compose  our  spirits  to 
silence,  and  abate  our  mourning  for  the  loss  of  friends,- 
who  have  given  sufficient  evidence  that  they  are  the 
children  of  God.  Their  heavenly  Father  has  seized 
them  from  the  midst  of  their  trials,  dangers  and  dif- 
ficulties, and  given  them  a  secure  refuge  in  his  own 
appointed  place  of  rest  and  safety.  Jesus  has  open- 
ed  the  door  of  the  grave  with  his  golden  key,  and 
hath  let  them  into  a  chamber  of  repose  :  He  has  con- 
cealed them  in  a  silent  retreat,"  vitiere  temptation  and 
shi  cannot  reach  them,  and  where  anguish  and  misery 
can  never  come. 

When  I  have  lost  therefore  a  dear  and  delightful 
relative  or  friend,  or  perhaps  many  of  them  in  a  short 
season  are  called  successively  down  to  the  dust,  let 
me  say  thus  within  myself,  <^  It  is  their  God  and  my 
God  has  done  it :  He  saw  what  new  temptations  were 
ready  to  surround  them  in  the  circumstances  of  life 
wherein  they  stood  :  He  beheld  the  trials  and  diffi- 
culties that  were  ready  to  encompass  them  on  all 
sides,  and  his  love  made  a  way  for  their  escape  :  He 
opened  the  dark  retreat  of  death,  and  hid  them  there 
from  a  thousand  perils  which  might  have  plunged 
them  into  guilt  and  defilement :  He  beheld  this  as 
the  proper  season  to  give  ihem  a  release  from  a  world 
of  labour  and  toil,  vanity  and  vexation,  sin  and  sor- 
row :  They  arc  taken  aii:ayfrom  the  evil  to  cojriey  and 


DISCOURSE  XI.       AND  JOY  AT  THE  REGURRFCTION\  4.^3 

I  will  learn  to  complain  no  more.  The  blessed  Je- 
sus to  whom  they  had  devoted  themselves,  well  knew 
what  allurements  of  gaiety  and  joy  might  have  been 
too  prevalent  over  them,  and  he  gave  them  a  kind 
escape  lest  their  souls  should  suffer  any  real  detri- 
ment,  lest  their  strict  profession  of  piety  should  be 
soiled  or  dishonoured :  He  knew  how  much  they 
ivere  able  to  hear^  and  he  ivoidd  lay  upon  them  no  fur- 
ther burden  :  He  saw  rising  diificulties  approaching, 
and  new  perils  coming  upon  them  beyond  their 
strength,  and  he  fulfils  their  own  promises,  and  glo« 
rifies  his  own  faithfulness,  by  opening  the  door  of  hij> 
well-known  hiding-place,  and  giving  them  a  safe  re- 
fuge there.  He  keeps  them  there  in  secret  from  thr 
corruptions  of  a  public  life,  and  the  multiplied  dan- 
gers of  a  degenerate  age,  which  might  have  divided 
their  hearts  from  God  and  things  heavenly  :  And  per- 
haps he  guards  them  also  in  that  dark  retreat  from 
some  long  and  languishing  sickness,  some  unknown 
distress,  some  overbearing  flood  of  misery,  which  was 
like  to  come  upon  them  had  they  continued  longer 
on  the  stage  of  life. 

'<  Let  this  silence  thy  murmuring  thoughts,  O  my 
soul ;  let  this  dry  up  thy  tears  which  are  ready  to 
overflow  on  such  an  occasion.  Dare  not  pronounce 
it  a  stroke  of  anger  from  the  hand  of  God,  who  divid- 
ed them  from  the  tempting  or  the  distressing  scenc^i 
of  this  world,  and  kindly  removed  them  out  of  the 
way  of  danger.  This  was  the  wisest  method  of  his 
love  to  guard  them  from  many  a  folly  and  many 
a  sorrov/,  v/hich  he  foresaw  just  at  the  door." 


434  SAFETY   IN  THt  GRAVE,  DlStOURSE  XI. 

Will  the  wounded  and  complaining  heart  go  onto 
groan  and  murmur  still,  *  But  my  son  was  carried  off 
in  the  prime  of  life,  or  my  daughter  in  her  blooming 
years ;  they  stood  flourishing  in  the  vigour  of  their 
nature,  and  it  was  my  delight  to  behold  their  growing 
appearances  of  virtue  and  goodness,  and  that  in  the 
midst  of  ease,  and  plenty,  and  prospects  of  happiness, 
bo  far  as  this  world  can  afford  it  ?' 

But  could  you  look  through  the  next  year  to  the 
end  of  it  ?  Could  you  penetrate  into  future  events, 
and  survey  the  scenes  of  seven  years  to  come  ?  Could 
your  heart  assure  itself  of  the  real  possession  of  this 
imaginary  view  of  happiness  and  peace  ?  Perhaps  the 
blessed  God  saw  the  clouds  gathering  afar  off,  and  at 
a  great  distance  of  time,  and  in  much  kindness  he 
housed  your  favourite  from  unknown  trials,  dangers 
and  sorrows.  So  a  prudent  gardener,  who  is  ac- 
quainted with  the  sky,  and  skilful  in  the  signs  of  the 
seasons,  even  in  the  month  of  May,  foresees  a  heavy 
tempest  rising  in  the  edge  of  the  horizon,  while  a 
vulgar  eye  observes  nothing  but  sunshine  ;  and  he 
who  knows  the  worth  and  the  tenderness  of  some 
special  plants  in  his  garden,  hous«es  them  in  haste, 
lest  they  should  be  exposed  and  demolished  by  the 
sweeping  rain  or  haih 

You  say,  '  these  children  v/ere  in  the  bloom  of  life, 
and  in  the  most  desirable  appearance  of  joy  and  satis- 
fiiction  :'  But  is  not  that  also  usually  the  most  dan- 
gerous season  of  life,  and  the  hour  of  most  powerful 
temptation  ?  Was  not  that  the  time  when  their  pas- 
sions might  have  been  too  hard  for  them,  and  the  de- 


DISCOUR-SE    XI.       AND  JOY  AT  THF-  RT.SURRECTION.  43 J 

lucling  pleasures  of  life  stood  round  them  with  a  most 
perilous  assault?  Aud  what  if  God,  out  of  pure  com- 
passion, saw  it  necessary  to  hide  them  from  an  army 
of  perils  at  once,  aud  to  carry  them  off  the  stage  of 
life  with  more  purity  and  honour?  Surely  when  the 
great  God  has  appointed  it,  when  the  blessed  Jesus 
has  done  it,  we  would  not  rise  up  in  opposition  and 
say,  '  But  I  would  have  had  them  live  longer  here  at 
all  adventures  :  I  wish  they  were  alive  again,  let  the 
consequence  be  what  it  will.'  This  is  not  the  voice 
of  faith  or  patience  ;  this  is  not  the  language  of  holy 
submission  and  love  to  God,  nor  can  our  souls  ap- 
prove of  such  irregular  storms  of  ungoverned  affec- 
tion, which  oppose  themselves  to  the  divine  w  ill,  and 
ruffle  the  soul  with  criminal  disquietude. 

There  are  many,  even  of  tlie  children  of  God,  who 
had  left  a  more  unblemislied  and  a  more  honourable 
character  behind  them,  if  they  had  died  much  sooner. 
The  latter  end  of  life  hath  sometimes  sullied  their 
brightness,  and  tarnished  the  glory  they  had  acquired 
in  a  hopeful  youth  :  Their  growing  years  have  fallen 
under  such  temptations,  and  been  defiled  and  dis- 
graced  by  such  failings,  as  would  have  been  entirely 
prevented  had  diey  been  summoned  away  into  GckI's 
hiding-place  some  years  before.  Our  blessed  Jesus 
walks  among  the  roses  and  lilies  in  the  garden  of  his 
ehurch,  and  when  he  sees  a  wintry  storm  coming 
upon  some  tender  plants  of  righteousness,  he  hide:; 
ibem  in  earth  to  preserve  life  in  ihem,  that  tliey  may 
l)loom  with  new  glories  when  they  shall  be  raised 
ftom  diut  bed.      The  blessed  God  acts  like  a  tender 


436  SAFliTY  IN  THE  GRAVE,  DISCOURSE  XI. 

Father,  and  consults  the  safety  and  honour  of  his 
children,  when  the  hand  of  his  mercy  snatches  them 
away  before  that  powerful  temptation  comes,  which 
he  foresees  would  have  defiled  and  distressed,  and 
almost  destroyed  them.  They  are  not  lost,  but  they 
are  gone  to  rest  a  little  sooner  than  we  are.  Peace 
be  to  that  bed  of  dust  where  they  are  hidden,  by  the 
Iiand  of  their  God,  from  unknown  dangers  !  Blessed 
be  our  Lord  Jesus,  who  has  the  keys  of  the  grave, 
and  never  opens  it  for  his  favourites  but  in  the  wisest 
iscason  I 

Obs»  III.^  *  God  has  appointed  a  set  time  in  his 
own  counsels  for  all  his  children  tocontinue  indeath:* 
Those  whom  he  has  hidden  in  the  grave  he  remem- 
bers they  lie  there,  and  he  will  not  suffer  them  to  abide 
in  the  dust  for  ever.  When  Job  entreats  of  God  that 
he  may  be  hidden  from  his  sorrows  in  the  dust  of 
death,  he  requests  also  that  ''  God  would  appoint  a 
set  time"  for  his  release,  ''  and  remember  him." 
His  faith  seems  to  have  had  a  gllrnpse  of  the  blessed 
resurrection.  Our  senses  and  our  carnal  passions 
would  cry  out,  where  is  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  and  the  rest  of  the  ancient  worthies,  who  have 
been  long  sleepers  in  their  beds  of  repose  for  many 
thousand  years  ?  But  faidi  assures  us,  that  God  num- 
bers the  days  and  the  months  of  their  concealment 
under  ground,  he  knov/s  where  their  dust  lies,  and 
v/here  to  find  every  scattered  atom  against  the  great 
restoring  day.  They  are  unseen  indeed  and  forgot- 
ten of  men,  but  they  are  under  the^eye  and  the  keep- 
ing of  the  blessed  God  :  He  watches  over  their  sleeps 


DISCOURSE  XI.       ANO  JOY  AT  THE  Rr.SURRECTIO.V.  4Z7 

ing  dust,  and  while  the  world  has  forgotten  and  lost 
even  their  names,  they  are  every  moment  under  the 
eye  of  God,  for  they  stand  written  in  his  book  of 
life,  with  the  name  of  the  Lamb  at  the  head  of 
them. 

Jesus,  his  Son,  had  but  three  days  appointed  him 
to  dwell  in  this  hiding-place,  and  he  rose  again  at  the 
appointed  hour.  Other  good  men,  who  were  gone 
to  their  grave  not  long  before  him,  arose  again  at  the 
resurrection  of  Christ,  and  made  a  visit  to  many  in 
Jerusalem  :  Their  appointed  hiding-place  was  but 
for  a  short  season  ;  and  all  the  children  of  God  shall 
be  remembered  in  their  proper  seasons  in  faithful- 
ness to  his  Son  to  whom  he  has  given  them  :  The 
Head  IS  raised  to  the  mansions  of  glory,  and  the  7nem' 
hers  must  not  for  ever  lie  in  dust. 

Refection,  Then  let  all  the  saints  of  God  wait  with 
patience  for  the  appointed  time  when  he  will  call  them 
down  to  death,  and  let  them  lie  down  in  their  secret 
beds  of  repose,  and  in  a  waiting  frame  commit  their 
dust  to  his  care  till  the  resurrection.  **  All  the  days 
of  my  appointed  time  (says  Job)  I  will  wait  till  my 
change  come."  The  word  *  appointed  time'  is  sup- 
posed to  si'^mh'ivat'fare  in  the  Hebrew:  As  a  cen- 
tinal,  when  he  is  fixed  to  his  post  by  his  general,  he 
waits  there  till  he  has  orders  for  a  release.  And  this 
clause  of  the  verse  may  refer  either  to  dying  or  rising 
again,  for  cither  of  them  is  a  very  great  and  inij)ort- 
ant  change  passing  upon  human  nature,  whether  from 
life  to  death,  or  from  death  to  life. 

K  3 


438  SAFE'lT   IN   THE  t>RAVE,  IHSCOURSR  XI^ 

Ills  said  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,    chap,  xxviii.  16. 
**  He  that  believeth  shall  not  make  haste,"  i.  e.  he 
thattrusts  in  the  wisdom  and  the  promised  mercy  of 
(}od  will  not  be  too  urgent  or  importunate  in  any  of 
his  desires  :   It  is  for  want  of  faith  that  nature  some- 
times is  in  too  much  haste  to  die,  as  Job  in  some  of 
his  expressions  appears  to  have  been,  or  as  Elijah 
perhaps  discovered  himself  when  he  was  wanoering 
in  the  wilderness  disconsolate  and  almost  despairing, 
or  as  the  prophet  Jeremiah   sufficiently   manifested, 
when  he  cursed  the  day  of  his  birth,  or  as  Jonah  was, 
that  peevish  prophet,  when  he  was  angry    with  God 
for  not  taking  away  his  life;  but  the  ground  of  it  was, 
he  was  vexed  because  God  did  not  destroy  Nineveh 
according  to  his  prophecy:   These  arc  certain  blem- 
ishes of  the  children  of  God  left  upon  record  in  his 
word,   to  give  us  warning  of  our  danger  of  impati- 
ence,  and  to  guard  us  against  their  sins  and  follies. 
And  since  we  know  that  God  has  appointed  the  sea- 
sons of  our  entrance  into  death,  and  into  the  state  of 
the  resurrection,  we  should  humbly  commit  the  dis- 
posal of  ourselves  to  the  hand  of  our  God,  who  will 
bestow  upon   us  the  most  needful  blessings  in  the 
most  proper  season. 

Do  not  the  '*  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect"  wait 
in  patience  for  the  great  and  blessed  rising-day  which 
God  has  appointed,  and  for  the  illustrious  change  of 
their  bodies  from  corruption  and  darkness  to  light, 
and  life,  aiul  glory  ?  God  has  promised  it,  and  thut 
suffices,  and  supports  their  waiting  spirits,  though 
thcv  know  not  the  hour.    The  *'  Father  keeps  that  in 


DISCOURSC  XI.       AND  JOY   AT  THE   RES.URRECT  I  ON.  4^^ 

his  owa  hand,"  and  perhaps  reveals  it  to  none  but  his 
Son  Jesus,  who  is  exahed  to  be  the  governor  and 
judge  of  the  world.  There  are  millions,  of  souls 
waiiip.g  in  that  separate  state  for  the  accomplishment 
of  these  last  and  best  promises,  ready  to  shout  and 
rejoice  when  they  shall  see  and  feel  that  bright  morn- 
ing dawning  upon  them. 

Wait  therefore,  O  my  soul,  as  becomes  a  child  of 
God  in  the  wilderness  among  many  trials,  darknesses, 
and  distresses.  He  has  stripped  thee  perhaps  of  one 
comfort  after  another,  and  thy  friends  and  dear  rela- 
tives in  succession  are  called  down  to  the  dust ;  they 
are  released  from  their  conflicts,  and  are  placed  far 
out  of  the  reach  of  every  temptation  ;  and  it  is  not 
thy  bu^siness  to  prescribe  to  God  at  what  hour  he  shall 
release  thee  also.  Whensoever  he  is  pleased  to  call 
thee  to  lay  down  thy  flesh  in  the  dust,  and  to  enter 
into  God's  hiding-place,  meet  thou  the  summons  with 
holy  courage,  satisfaction  and  joy,  enter  into  the 
chamber  of  rest  till  all  the  days  of  sin,  sorrow  and 
wretchedness  are  overpast ;  Lie  down  there  in  a  wait- 
ing frame,  and  commit  thy  flesh  to  his  care  and  keep- 
ing till  the  hour  in  which  he  has  appointed  thy  glori- 
ous change. 

Obs,  IV.  *  The  lively  view  of  a  happy  resurrec- 
tion, and  a  well  grounded  hope  of  this  blessed 
change,  is  a  solid  and  divine  comfort  to  the  saints  of 
God,  under  all  trials  of  every  kind,  both  in  life  and 
death.'  The  faith  and  hope  of  a  joyful  rising-day 
has  supported  the  children  of  God  under  long  dis- 
tresses and  huge  agonies  of  soirov/  which  ihey  sus- 


440  SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE,  DISCOURSE  XI. 

tain  here.  It  is  the  expectation  of  this  desirable  da 
that  animates  the  soul  with  vigour  and  life  to  fulfil 
every  painful  and  dangerous  duty.  It  is  for  this  we 
expose  ourselves  to  the  bitter  reproaches  and  perse- 
cutions of  the  wicked  world ;  it  is  for  this  that  we 
conflict  with  all  our  adversaries  on  earth,  and  all  the 
powers  of  darkness  that  are  sent  from  hell  to  annoy 
us ;  it  is  this  joyful  expectation  that  bears  up  our 
spirits  under  every  present  burden  and  calamity  of 
life. 

What  could  ive  do  in  such  a  painful  and  dying 
world,  or  how  could  we  bear  with  patience  the  long 
fatigues  of  such  a  wretched  life,  if  we  had  no  hope  of 
rising  again  from  the  dead  ?  Surely  "  we  are  the  most 
miserable  of  all  men''  in  days  of  public  persecution, 
*'if  we  had  hope  only  in  this  life,"  1  Cor.  xv.  19. 
It  is  for  this  that  we  labour,  and  suffer,  and  endure 
whatsoever  our  heavenly  Father  is  pleased  to  lay  upon 
us.  It  is  this  confirms  our  fortitude,  and  makes  ''  us 
steadfast,  unmoveable,  always  abounding  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  for  as  much  as  we  know  that  our  labour 
shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord,"  1  Cor.  xv.  58.  It 
is  this  that  enables  us  to  bear  the  loss  of  our  dearest 
friends  with  patience  and  hope,  and  assuages  the 
smart  of  our  sharpest  sorrows  :  For  since  we  believe 
that  **  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,"  so  we  rejoice  in 
hope  that  *'  they  which  sleep  in  Jesus  shall  be  brought 
with  him"  at  his  return,  and  shall  appear  in  brighter 
and  more  glorious  circumstances  than  ever  our  e3^es 
were  blessed  with  here  on  earth,  I  Thes.  iv.  13. 
This  teaches  us  to  triumph  over  death  and  the  grave 


DISCOURSE  XI.       AND  JOY   AT  THE   RESURRECTION.  441 

in  divine  lan^ruagc,  **  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting? 
O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?" 

Reflection.  What  are  thy  chief  burdens,  O  my 
soul  ?  Whence  are  all  thy  sighs  and  thy  daily  groan- 
ings  ?  What  are  thy  distresses  of  flesh  or  spirit  >  Sum- 
mon them  all  in  one  view,  and  see  whether  there  be 
not  power  and  glory  enough  in  a  resurrection  to  con- 
quer and  silence  them  all,  and  to  put  thy  present 
sorrows  to  flight  ? 

Dost  thou  dwell  in  a  *  vexing  and  persecuting 
world,'  amongst  oppressions  and  reproaches  ?  But 
those  who  reproach  and  oppress  are  but  mortal  crea- 
tures, who  shall  shortly  go  down  to  the  dust,  and 
then  they  shall  tyrannize  and  aflPiict  thee  no  more  : 
The  great  rising-day  shall  change  the  scene  from 
oppression  and  reproach  to  dominion  and  glory. 
When  ''they  lie  down  in  the  grave  like"  beasts  of 
slaughter,  *'  death  shall  feed  on  them,  and  the  upright 
shall  have  dominion  over  them  in  the  morning,  when 
God  shall  redeem  thy  soul  from  the  power  of  the 
grave."  Thy  God  shall  hide  thy  body  from  their 
rage  in  his  own  appointed  resting-place,  and  lie  shall 
receive  thy  soul,  and  keep  it  secure  in  his  own  pre- 
sence, till  that  blessed  morning  break  upon  this  louer 
creation  ;  then  shalt  thou  "  arise  and  shine,  for  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen  upon  thee." 

Do  the  'calamities  which  thou  suflfercst  proceed 
from  the  liand  of  God?'  Art  thou  disquieted  with 
daily  pain,  with  sicknesses  and  anguish  in  thy  flesh? 
Or  art  thou  surrounded  with  crosses  and  disappoint- 
ments in  thy  outward  circumstances  ?  Are  thy  spirits 


44.2  SAFETY   IN  THE   GRAVE,  DISCOURSE  XI. 

sunk  with  many  loads  of  care  and  pressing  perplexi- 
ties ?  Cansi  thou  not  forget  them  all  in  the  vision  that 
faith  can  give  thee  of  the  great  rising-day  ?  Canst 
thou  not  say  in  the  language  of  faith,  **  the  sufferings 
of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared 
with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in  us?"  Then 
the  head  and  the  heart  shall  ake  no  more,  and  every 
circumstance  around  thee  shall  be  pleasing  and  joy- 
ful for  ever. 

Or  art  thou  tenderly  affected  with  the  *  loss  of  pi- 
ous friends,'  who  have  been  very  dear  and  desirable? 
Perhaps  thy  sensibilities  here  are  too  great  and  pain- 
ful :  They  are  such  indeed  as  nature  is  ready  to  in- 
dulge, but  are  they  not  more  than  God  requires,  or 
the  gospel  allows  ?  Do  not  thy  thoughts  dwell  too 
much  on  the  gloom  and  darkness  of  the  grave  ?  O 
think  of  that  bright  hour  when  every  saint  shall  rise 
from  the  dark  retreats  of  death  with  more  complete 
characters  of  beauty,  holiness  and  pleasure  than  ever 
this  world  could  shew  them  in  !  They  are  not  perish- 
ed, but  sent  a  little  before  us  into  *  God's  hiding* 
place,'  where  though  they  lie  in  dust  and  darkness, 
yet  they  are  safe  from  the  dangers  and  vexations  of 
life;  but  they  shall  sj)ring  up  in  the  happy  moment 
iiUo  immortality,  and  shall  ji)in  with  thee  in  a  mutual 
burprise  at  each  other's  divine  change. 

Or  dost  thou  feel  the  '  corruptions  of  thy  heart' 
workii^g  within  thee,  and  the  sins  of  thy  nature  rest- 
less in  their  endeavours  to  bring  defilement  upon  thy 
ooui,  and  g'lilt  upon  thy  conscience:  Go  on  and 
maintain  the  holy  warfare  agaiJist  all  these  rising  ini- 


DISCOURSE  XI.       AND  JOY   AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  44j 

quities  :  This  thy  warfare  shall  not  continue  long  : 
Thou  shalt  find  every  one  of  these  sins  buried  with 
thee  in  the  grave,  but  they  shall  rise  to  assault  thee  no 
more.  The  saint  shall  leave  every  sin  behind  him 
when  he  breaks  out  of  the  dust  at  the  summons  of 
Christ,  and  thou  shalt  find  no  seeds  of  iniquity  in  thy 
body  when  it  is  raised  from  the  grave.  **  Holiness 
to  the  Lord"  shall  be  inscribed  upon  all  thy  powers 
for  ever. 

Or  art  thou  perplexed,  O  my  soul,  *  at  the  near 
prospect  of  death,'  and  all  the  terrors  and  dismal  ap- 
pearances that  surround  it?  Art  thou  afraid  to  lie 
down  in  the  cold  and  noisome  grave  ?  Does  thy  na- 
ture shudder  at  it  as  a  gloomy  place  of  horror  ?  These 
indeed  are  the  prejudices  of  sense  ;  hut  the  language 
of  faith  will  tell  thee,  it  is  only  *  God's  hiding-place,* 
where  he  secures  his  saints  till  all  the  ages  of  sin  and 
sorrow  are  overpast.  Look  forward  to  the  glorious 
morning  when  thou  shalt  rise  from  the  dust  among 
ten  thousand  of  thy  fellows,  every  one  in  the  image  of 
the  Son  of  God,  with  their  *'  bodies  formed  after  the 
likeness  of  his  glorious  body,"  and  rejoicing  together 
with  divine  satisfaction  in  the  pleasure  of  this  heaven 
ly  change.  Try  whether  the  meditation  of  these  glo- 
ries, and  the  distant  prospect  of  this  illustrious  day, 
will  scatter  all  the  i^loom  that  hovers  round  the  grave, 
and  vanquish  the  fiercest  appearances  of  the  king  ol 
terrors. 

What  is  there,  O  my  soul,  among  all  the  miseries 
thou  hast  felt,  or  all  that  thou  fcarest,  that  can  sink 
thy  courage,  if  the  faith  of  a  resurrection  be  butaliVc 
and  v»akefu!>   But  this  leads  me  to  the 


4<i.4  SAFETt  IS   THE    GRAVE,  D13GOUHSE  XJ- 

Ohs,  V.  *  The  saints  of  God,  who  are  resting  in 
their  beds  of  dust,  will  arii^e  joyfully  at  the  call  of 
their  heavenly  Father/  *'  Thou  shalt  call,  and  I  will 
answer  thee,"  said  holy  Job.  The  command  of  God 
creates  life,  and  gives  power  to  the  dead  to  arise  and 
speak.  '  I  come,  O  Lord,  I  come.'  When  Jesus, 
the  Son  of  God,  as  with  the  trumpet  of  an  archangel, 
shall  pronounce  the  word  which  he  spake  to  Lazarus, 
'*  Arise  and  come  forth,"  dust  and  rottenness  shall 
hear  the  call  from  heaven,  and  the  clods  of  corrup- 
tion all  round  the  earth  shall  arise  into  the  form  of 
man  :  The  saints  shall  appear  at  once  and  answer  to 
that  divine  call,  arrayed  in  a  glory  like  that  of  angels; 
an  illustrious  host  of  martyrs  and  confessors  for  the 
truth  ;  an  army  of  heroes  and  valiant  sufferers  for  the 
name  and  cause  of  God  and  his  Son  ;  an  innumerable 
muhitude  of  faithful  servants  who  have  finished  their 
work,  and  lay  down  at  rest. 

How  shall  Adam,  the  Father  of  our  race,  together 
with  the  holy  men  of  his  day,  be  surprised,  when  they 
shall  awake  out  of  their  long  sleep  of  five  thousand 
vears  ?  How  shall  all  the  saints  of  the  intermediate 
ages  bieak  from  their  beds  of  darkness  vvith  intense 
delight  ?  And  those  who  lay  down  but  yesterday  in 
the  dust  shall  start  up  at  once  with  their  early  ances- 
tors, and  ansu  er  to  the  call  of  Jesus  from  one  end  of 
time  to  the  other,  and  from  all  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
They  shall  arise  together  to  *  meet  the  Lord  in  the 
air,  that  they  n)ay  be  for  ever  with  the  Lord.' 

Never  was  any  voice  obeyed  with  more  readiness 
and  joy  than  the  voice  or  trumpet  of  the  great  arch- 


DISCOURSE    XI.       AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  445 

angel,  summoning  all  the  children  of  God  to  awake 
from  their  long  slumbers,  and  to  leave  their  dusty  beds 
behind  them,  with  all  the  seeds  of  sin  and  sorrow, 
which  are  buried  and  lost  there  for  ever.  Never  did 
any  army  on  earth  march  with  more  speed  and  plea- 
sure, at  the  sound  of  the  trumpet,  to  attend  their  gen- 
eral  to  a  new  triumph,  than  this  glorious  assembly 
shall  arise  to  meet  their  returning  Lord,  when  this 
last  trumpet  sounds,  and  when  he  shall  come  the 
second  time  in  the  full  glories  of  his  person  and  his 
offices,  as  Lord  and  Judge  of  the  world,  to  bring  his 
faithful  followers  into  complete  salvation. 

Refiection.  Whensoever,  O  my  soul,  thou  feelest 
any  reluctance  to  obey  the  summons  of  death,  encou- 
rage thy  faith,  and  scatter  thy  fears,  by  waiting  for 
the  call  of  God  to  a  blessed  resurrection.  Jesus  him- 
self lay  down  in  the  grave  at  his  Father's  command, 
and  he  arose  with  joy  at  the  appointed  hour  as  the 
head  of  the  new  creation,  as  the  first-born  from  the 
dead ;  and  he  has  orders  given  him  by  the  Father  to 
summon  every  saint  from  their  graves  at  the  long  ap- 
pointed hour.  Because  Jesus  arose  and  lives,  they 
shall  arise  and  live  also.  O  may  my  flesh  lie  down 
in  the  dust  with  all  courage  and  composure,  and  re- 
joice to  escape  into  a  place  of  rest  and  silence,  far 
away  from  the  noise  and  tumult,  the  hurry  and  bustle 
of  this  present  life  ;  being  well  assured  that  the  next 
sound  which  shall  be  heard  is  the  voice  of  the  Son 
of  God,  *'  arise  ye  dead  !"  Make  haste  then,  O  bless- 
ed Jesus,  and  finish  thy  divine  work  here  on  earth  • 


4i(>  SAFETY   IN  THE  GRAVE,  DISCOURSE  XI. 

I  liiy  down  my  head  to  sleep  in  the  dust,  waiting  fof" 
thy  call  to  awake  in. the  morning. 

Obs,  VI.  *  God  takes  delight  in  his  works  of  na- 
ture, but  much  more  when  they  are  dignified  and 
adorned  by  the  operations  of  divine  grace.'  **  Thou 
V.  ilt  have  a  desire,"  saith  the  good  man  in  my  text, 
**  to  the  work  of  thy  own  hands."  Thou  hast  mould- 
ed me  and  fashioned  me  at  first  by  thy  power,  thou 
hast  new  created  me  by  thy  spirit,  and  though  thou 
hidest  me  for  a  season  in  one  of  thy  secret  chambers 
of  death,  thou  wilt  raise  me  again  to  light  and  life, 
''  and  in  my  flesh  shall  I  sec  God." 

When  the  Almighty  had  created  this  visible  world, 
he  surveyed  his  works  on  the  seventh  day,  and  pro- 
nounced them  all  good^  and  he  took  delight  in  them 
all  before  sin  entered  and  dcfded  them  :  And  when 
he  has  delivered  the  creatures  of  his  power  from  the 
bondage  of  corruption,  and  has  purged  our  souls  and 
our  bodies  from  sin  and  from  every  evil  principle,  he 
will  again  delight  in  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Adam 
whom  he  has  thus  cleansed  and  refined  by  his  sove-- 
reign  grace,  and  has  qualified  and  adorned  them  for 
his  mvn  presence  :  **  lie  will  sing  and  rejoice  over 
ihem,  and  rest  in  his  love,"  Zcphan.  iii.  17. 

He  will  love  to  see  them  with  his  Son  Jesus  at  their 
head,  disusing  holiness  and  glory  through  all  his 
members.  Jesus  the  Redeemer  will  love  to  see  them 
round  him  for  he  has  bought  them  with  his  blood, 
and  they  are  a  treasure  too  precious  to  be  for  ever 
lost.  He  will  rejoice  to  behold  them  rising  at  his 
call  into  a  splendour  like  his  ovrn,  and  they  "  shall  be 


DISCOURSE  XI.       AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRIXTION.  417 

satisfied  when  they  awake"  from  death  **  into  his  like- 
ness," and  appear  in  the  image  of  his  own  glorious 
body,  fit  heirs  for  the  inheritance  of  heaven,  fit  com- 
panions for  the  blessed  angels  of  light,  and  prepared 
to  dwell  for  ever  with  himself. 

Reflection,  And  shall  not  we  w  ho  arc  the  work  of 
his  hands  have  a  desire  to  him  that  made  us  ?  To  him 
that  redeemed  us?  To  him  that  has  new  created  and 
moulded  us  into  his  own  likeness  ?  Do  we  not  lono:  to 
see  him?  Have  we  not  a  desire  to  be  witli  him,  even 
though  we  should  be  *' absent  from  the  body"  for  a 
season  ?  But  much  more  should  we  delight  to  think 
of  being  "  present  with  the  Lord,"  when  our  whole 
natures,  body  and  soul,  shall  appear  as  the  new  work- 
manship of  Almighty  powder  ;  our  souls  new  created 
in  the  image  of  God,  and  our  bodies  new  born  from 
the  dead,  into  a  life  of  immortality. 

VII.  The  last  observation  is  of  a  very  general  na- 
ture, and  spreads  itself  through  all  my  text,  and  that 
is,  *  how  much  are  we  indebted  to  God  for  the  reve- 
lation of  the  New  Testament,  which  teaches  us  to 
find  out  the  blessings  which  are  contained  in  the  Old, 
and  to  fetch  out  the  glories  and  treasures  which  are 
concealed  there  V  The  writers  of  the  gospel  have  not 
only  pointed  us  to  the  rich  mines  where  these  trea- 
sures lie,  but  have  brought  forth  many  of  the  jewels 
and  set  them  before  us.  It  is  this  gospel  that  "  brings 
life  and  immortality  to  light  by  Jesus  Christ,"  2  Tim. 
i.  10.  It  is  this  gospel  that  scatters  the  gloom  and 
darkness  which  was  spread  over  the  face  of  the  grave, 
and  illuminates  all  the   chambers   of  deatli.     ^Vho 


448  SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE,  DISCOURSE  XI. 

could  have  found  out  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection 
contained  in  that  word  of  grace  given  to  Abrahann, 
**  I  am  thy  God,"  if  Jesus,  the  great  prophet,  had 
not  taught  us  to  explain  it  thus,  Matth.  xxii.  31? 
'*  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living.'' 
We  who  have  the  happiness  to  live  in  the  days  of 
the  Messiah,  know  more  than  all  the  ancient  prophets 
were  acquainted  with,  and  understand  the  word  of 
their  prophecies  better  than  they  themselves  ;  for 
''  they  searched  what  or  what  manner  of  time  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  which  was  in  them,  did  signify,  when 
it  testified  before  hand  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and 
the  glory  which  should  follow,"  1  Pet.  i.  11.  But 
we  read  all  this  fairly  written  in  the  gospel.  Do  you 
think  that  good  David  could  have  explained  some  of 
his  own  Psalms  into  so  divine  a  sense,  or  Isaiah  given 
such  a  bright  account  of  his  own  words  of  prophecy, 
as  St.  Paul  has  done  in  several  places  of  the  New 
Testament,  where  he  cites  and  unfolds  them  ?  Could 
those  illustrious  ancients  have  given  us  such  *  abun- 
dant consolation  and  hope  through  the  Scriptures,* 
which  they  themselves  '  wrote  aforetime,'  as  this 
Apostle  has  done,  Rom.  xv.  4.  Do  you  think  Job 
could  have  read  us  such  a  lecture  on  his  own  ex- 
pressions in  this  text,  or  in  that  bright  prophecy  in 
the  xixth  chapter,  as  the  very  meanest  among  the 
ministers  of  the  gospel  can  do  by  the  help  of  the  New 
Testament  ?  For  in  point  of  clear  discoveries  of  di- 
vine truths  and  graces,  <^  the  least  in  the  kingdom  of 
the  Messiah  is  greater  than  John  the  Baptist  and  all 
the  prophets,"  and  our  blessed  Jesus  has  told  us  so, 


OISCOURSE  Xr.       AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  449 

Matth.  xi.  11.  13.  And  by  the  aid  and  influences 
of  his  spirit  we  may  be  taught  yet  further  to  search 
into  these  hidden  mines  of  grace,  and  bring  forth  new 
treasures  of  glory. 

Refectioji.  Awake,  O  my  soul,  and  bless  the  Lord 
with  all  thy  powers,  and  give  thanks  with  holy  joy 
for  the  gospel  of  his  Son  Jesus.  It  is  Jesus  by  his 
rising  from  the  dead  has  left  a  divine  light  upon  tlie 
gates  of  the  grave,  and  scattered  much  of  the  dark- 
ness  that  surrounded  it.  It  is  the  gospel  of  Christ 
which  casts  a  glory  even  upon  the  bed  of  death,  and 
spreads  a  brightness  upon  the  graves  of  the  saints  in 
the  lively  views  of  a  great  rising-day.  O  blessed 
and  surprising  prospect  of  faith  !  O  illustrious  scenes 
of  future  vision  and  transport !  When  the  Son  of  God 
shall  bring  forth  to  public  view  all  his  redeemed  ones, 
who  had  been  long  hidden  in  night  and  dust,  and 
shall  present  them  all  to  God  the  Father  in  his  owri 
image,  bright  and  holy,  and  unblemished,  in  the 
midst  of  all  the  splendors  of  the  resurrection !  O 
blessed  and  joyful  voice,  when  he  shall  say  with  di- 
vine pleasure,  "  Here  am  I,  and  the  children  which 
thou  hast  given  me  :"  '  We  have  both  passed  through 
the  grave,  and  I  have  made  them  all  conquerors  of 
death,  and  vested  them  with  immortality  according 
to  thy  divine  commission  !  Thine  they  ivere^  O  Ydi- 
ih^T^  and  thou  hast  ghcn  them  into  my  hands,  and 
behold  I  have  brought  them  all  safe  to  thy  appointed 
mansions,  and  I  present  them  before  thee  without 
spot  or  blemish.' 

And  many  a  parent  of  a  pious  household  in  that 
day,  when  they  shall  see  their  sons  and  their  dauglu 


4o0  SAFETY   IN  THE  GKAVE,  &C.         DISCOURSE  XI, 

ters  around  them,  all  arrayed  with  the  beams  of  the 
Son  of  righteousness,  shall  echo  with  holy  joy  to  the 
voice  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  **Lord,  here  am  I,  and 
the  children  which  thou  hast  given  me."  '  I  was 
afraid,  as  Job  once  might  be  when  his  friends  sug- 
gested this  fear ;  I  was  afraid  that  my  children  had 
rAnned  against  God y  and  he  had  cast  them  a^w ay  for 
their  transgression :  But  I  am  now  convinced,  when 
he  seized  them  from  my  sight,  he  only  took  them  out 
of  the  way  of  temptation  and  danger,  and  concealed 
them  for  a  season  in  his  safe  hiding-place:  I  mourn- 
ed in  the  day-time  for  a  lost  son  or  a  lost  daughter, 
and  in  the  night  my  couch  was  bedewed  with  my 
tears :  I  was  scared  with  midnight  dreams  on  their 
account,  and  the  visions  of  the  grave  terrified  me 
because  my  children  were  there:  I  gave  up  myself 
to  sorrow  for  fear  of  the  displeasure  of  my  God  both 
against  them  and  against  me;  But  how  unreasona- 
ble were  these  sorrows  ?  How  groundless  were  my 
fears  ?  How  gloriously  am  I  disappointed  this  bless- 
ed morning  ?  I  see  my  dear  offspring  called  out  of 
that  long  retreat  where  God  had  concealed  them,  and 
they  arise  to  meet  the  divine  call.  I  hear  them  an- 
swering with  joy  to  the  happy  summons.  My  eyes 
behold  them  risen  in  the  image  of  m.y  God  and  their 
God  :  they  are  near  me,  they  stand  with  me  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  Judge  ;  now  shall  we  rejoice  toge- 
ther in  the  sentence  of  eternal  blessedness  from  the 
lips  of  my  Lord  and  their  Lord,  my  Redeemer  and 
their  Redeemer.'     Amen. 


A  SPEECH  OVER  A  GRAVP.  451 

Among  my  papers  I  ha'ue  found  a  speech  spoken  at  a 
grai)ey  ivbicb  I  transcribed  almost  fifty  years  ago, 
and  whic/j  deser'ues  to  be  saved  from  perishing.  It 
%\)  as  pronounced  many  years  before  at  the  funeral  of 
a  pious  person,  by  a  minister  there  present,  supposed 
to  be  the  Re'D,  Mr,  Peter  S terry ;  and  the  subject  of 
it  beifig  suited  to  this  discourse,  I  thought  it  not  im- 
proper to  prescribe  it  here, 

*'  CHRISTIAN  friends,  though  sin  be  entered 
into  the  world,  and  by  sin  death,  and  so  death  passed 
upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned ;  yet  it  seems 
not  wholly  suitable  to  our  Christian  hope,  to  stand 
by  and  see  the  grave  with  open  mouth  take  in,  and 
swallow  down  any  part  of  a  precious  saint,  and  not 
bring  some  testimony  against  the  devourer.  And, 
yet  that  our  witness  may  be  in  righteousness,  we 
must  first  own,  acknowledge,  and  accept  of  that 
good  and  serviceableness  that  is  in  it. 

*'  For  through  the  death  and  resurrection  of  our 
dear  Redeemer,  death  and  the  grave  are  become 
sweetened  to  us,  and  sanctified  for  us  :  So  that  as 
death  is  but  a  sleep,  the  grave  through  his  lying 
down  in  it  and  rising  again,  is  become  as  a  bed  of 
repose  to  them  that  are  in  him,  and  a  safe  and  quiet 
hiding-place  for  his  saints  till  the  resurrection. 

**  And  in  this  respect  we  do  for  ourselves,  and  for 
this  our  dearly  beloved  in  the  Lord,  accept  of  thee, 
O  grave,  and  readily  deliver  up  her  body  to  thee ; 
it  is  a  body  that  hath  been  weakened  and  wearied 
with  long  affliction  and  anguish,  v.p  freelv  ehe  '-^.  un^ 


452  A  3PEECII  OVLH  A  GRAVE, 

to  thee  ;  receive  it,  and  let  it  have  in  tlicc..a  quiet 
rest  from  all  its  hibours ;  for  thus  we  read  it  written 
of  thee,  there  the  ivicked  cease  from  troubling^  and 
there  the  weary  be  at  rest. 

**  Besides,  it  is,  O  grave,  a  body  that  hath  been 
sweetly  embahiied  by  a  virtuous,  pious,  peaceable 
conversation,  by  several  inward  openings  and  out- 
pourings of  the  spirit  of  life,  by  much  patience  and 
meekness  in  strong  trials  and  afflictions :  Receive  it, 
and  let  it  enjoy  thee,  what  was  once  deeply  impress- 
ed on  her  own  heart,  and  in  a  due  season  written  out 
with  her  own  hand,  a  sabbath  in  the  grave  :  for  thus 
also  we  find  it  recorded  of  our  Lord  and  her  Lord,  that 
enjoyed  the  rest  of  his  last  sabbath  in  the  grave. 

"But  we  know  thee,  O  grave,  to  be  also  a  de- 
vourer,  and  yet  we  can  freely  deliver  up  the  body 
into  thee. 

*'  There  was  in  it  a  contracted  corruptibility,  dis- 
honour and  weakness  ;  take  them  as  thy  proper  prey, 
they  belong  to  thee,  and  we  would  not  with-hold 
them  from  thee :  Freely  swallow  them  up  for  ever, 
that  they  may  appear  no  more. 

**  Yet  know%  O  grave,  there  is  in  the  body,. consi- 
dered as  once  united  to  such  a  soul,  a  divine  relation 
^o  the  Lord  of  life  ;  and  this  thou  must  not,  thou 
canst  not  dissolve  or  destroy.  But  know,  and  even 
before  thee,  and  over  thee  be  it  spoken,  that  therfc  is 
a  season  hastening  wherein  we  shall  expect  it  again 
hom  thee  in  incorruption,  honour  and  power. 

"  We  now  sow  it  into  thee  in  dishonour,  but  expect 
it  again  T''^tnrn<"d  from  thee  in  glory ;  we  now  sow  \- 


A  SPEECH  OVER  A  GRAVE.  453 

^into  thee  in  weaknessj  we  expect  it  again  in  power ; 
we  now  sow  it  into  thee  a  natural  body^  we  look  for 
it  again  from  thee  a  spiritual  body, 

"  And  when  thou  hast  fulfilled  that  end  for  which 
the  Prince  of  life,  who  took  thee  captive,  made  thee 
to  serve,  then  shalt  thou  who  hast  devoured  be  thy- 
self also  swallowed  up  ;  for  thus  it  is  written  of  thee, 
0  death,  I  will  be  thy  plague^  0  gra^oe^  1  will  be  thy 
destruction.  And  then  we  shall  sing  over  thee  what 
also  is  written  of  thee,  O  deaths  where  is  now  thy 
sting?  O grave,  where  is  now  thy  victory  F  Amen." 

2iote.     A  line  or  two  is  altered  in  this  speech,  to  suit  it  more  to  the 
understanding  and  the  sense  of  the  present  a.g;e. 


END  OF  VOLUME  r. 


^i  Pi 


\ 


•m> 


^■9. 


m 


m 


^ 


